SATURDAY’S SIX NATIONS meeting with France unravelled into a heavy defeat for Ireland, but for much of the game, the contest was playing out pretty much as most had anticipated.
It was tense, ferocious, and the margins were small. Ireland dominated the early possession and territory but failed to make it count as points on the scoreboard.
France looked dangerous throughout, and after Joe McCarthy picked up a needless yellow card for a pullback on Thomas Ramos, Fabien Galthié’s men pounced for the opening try. A brace of Sam Prendergast penalties, either side of a Ramos three-pointer, left the score 8-6 to France at the break with the game neatly in the balance.
Ireland made a blistering start to the second period through Dan Sheehan’s try, superbly converted by Prendergast, which gave Ireland a five-point advantage. Yet Ireland wouldn’t add to that tally for 34 minutes as they were torn to shreds by a French side who had more pace, more power and more punch than their hosts.
Across a devastating third-quarter surge, France crossed for three tries and rolled seven forwards off the bench while Ireland lost Calvin Nash to a yellow card.
The momentum began to shift after a poor Jamison Gibson-Park box-kick handed the French a lineout in the Ireland half.
From the resulting setpiece, France get a shove going at the maul before they continue to play off advantage after Caelan Doris is caught for not supporting his bodyweight as he attempts a steal on the deck.
The French continue to rumble forward with a series of powerful carries and it’s during this passage that Pierre-Louis Barassi ships a high contact from Nash.
The replays show Nash can have little complaint, with a yellow card a fair decision.
Yet even before referee Angus Gardner has gone back to check the tackle, France have pushed forward to score a try trough Paul Boudehent, following some slick offloading from Jean-Baptiste Gros and Maxime Lucu.
The second TMO check on the try centres around Thibaud Flament’s tackle on Peter O’Mahony beyond the ruck. After reviewing, Gardner sticks with his on-field decision and awards the try, judging O’Mahony “was retreating backward as a matador.”
The Ireland supporters in the stadium don’t agree with the call, but the try stands, and regardless of whether Gardner made the right call or not, France do extremely well to finish the try, with Gros and Lucu throwing superb offloads before Boudehent bashes through Jamie Osborne to score.
As the teams reset Barassi leaves the action, with the centre replaced by flanker Oscar Jégou, one of the seven forwards included in France’s 7/1 bench split.
Ireland are now two points behind but the momentum hasn’t totally shifted just yet. On their next attack Hugo Keenan rises to claim a Gibson-Park box-kick before Prendergast sends a low kick through to pin the French in their own 22.
But from here Galthié’s side really get motoring, starting with a crunching carry by second row Mickaël Guillard off that French lineout, who explodes into the contact with Doris and Josh van der Flier.
That carry lays the platform for Lucu to execute an excellent exit kick, as he gains 38.9m. Just like that, France have relieved the pressure.
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As the teams prepare for the lineout France send in five more forwards – an all-new front row of Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille, Dorian Aldegheri, alongside second row Emmanuel Meafou and versatile lock/flanker Anthony Jelonch.
Ireland win the lineout through Tadhg Beirne before Gibson-Park sends a box-kick toward Damian Penaud on the edge of the French 22. What happens next is a stunning passage of French attacking play.
After Penaud secures possession Ramos takes a risky option with a kick and chase on the edge, and while Gibson-Park is able to claim the ball he’s soon swallowed up by Ramos and supporting French forwards.
Ireland are overpowered as France win possession back through big efforts from Grégory Alldritt, Aldegheri and Jelonch, before moving the ball into Penaud’s hands.
Ireland aren’t slow to get bodies in to support Gibson-Park, with Beirne, McCarthy and Ryan Baird all quickly on the scene, but they get blown off the ball.
Penaud’s involvement is world class wing play. Roaming infield, he fixes Bundee Aki and lures in Keenan before firing an arching pass wide to Bielle-Biarrey.
Bielle-Biarrey still has plenty to do, but the Bordeaux man shows why he’s one of the most lethal attacking threats in world rugby. The 21-year-old tears away from Robbie Henshaw before dropping the ball onto his right foot to kick beyond Prendergast – a move fast becoming a trademark for Bielle-Biarrey – and while the Ireland 10 chases hard he just doesn’t have the gas to catch the French flyer.
Ramos converts to leave France nine points up with 30 minutes still to play, but there is no way back for Ireland, who start to compound errors.
After Jelonch makes a strong carry off the restart, Lucu nails another good exit kick into the Ireland half which leads to Ireland losing their own lineout ball – Sheehan’s throw sailing over the top and into the hands of Marchand.
France then make a series of strong carries as they move into the Ireland 22 before winning a penalty after Doris is pinged by Gardner again. France initially continue with penalty advantage before the play is called back and Ramos kicks three points.
On the restart, Flament rises impressively to take the ball ahead of Ryan Bair, before Lucu hits another bomb of an exit kick deep into the Ireland half.
Keenan takes possession before Prendergast goes to the skies, and Romain Ntamack wins the ball ahead of the chasing Keenan.
Cue another thread of strong, confident French carries, before Meafou frees his hands and offloads to Ntamack, opening the door for Jegou to kick in behind.
Jegou’s kick puts Osborne under pressure and French boodies flood in, with Jegou arriving to dump the 23-year-old to the ground.
Ireland manage to keep possession before Jack Crowley kicks for touch just beyond the Ireland 22, but it’s another big territory gain for France as Nash’s yellow card period ends.
France go short at the lineout and are soon pounding through the carries, with Meafou to the fore as he barges through Doris.
A couple of phases later Meafou again steamrolls the Ireland captain.
Ireland can’t stop France from inching forward and eventually Jegou gets in for the bonus point score, finishing past a tired defensive effort from Beirne.
Ramos adds the conversion and across a dazzling third quarter, France have hit 19 unanswered points to move from trailing 13-8 to leading 32-13.
They would see out the game comfortably from here, with Penaud adding a late intercept try before Ireland crossed twice through Cian Healy and Jack Conan in the dying minutes.
Yet the result had long been beyond doubt, with France’s 7/1 bench gamble working to devastating effect.
While Ireland will also rue their failure to get on the scoreboard earlier in the game, flanker Josh van der Flier admitted they will look back at that third quarter as the most costly period of the game.
“A few things coincided,” Van der Flier said.
Us being down to 14, you could see them bringing some of their subs on, a combination of things, we probably got a bit narrow in defence, they kind of got a bit of joy down the edges, that will be one thing we’ll look back on.
“Obviously when you’re a man down, you’re always one person (fewer) in the defensive line. That’s covering for someone, you always have to work that bit harder against a team like France that are likely to stretch the defence quite a bit.
“Against some teams you might not notice as much, in fairness they are a world class team, they played very well in that second half, obviously there is a lot of things we could have done better to negate their efficiency, a lot of the credit has to go them, they are a quality team.”
Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park admitted the game felt like a step up in terms of the intensity and physically they had faced previously in this year’s championship.
“It certainly felt that way. They came to play and they fronted up physically as well as playing some nice ball, they have some great players and put us under a lot of pressure and turned it into points at the end of the day, and I think deserved winners.
“The (Nash) yellow card period, I felt they managed it really well and they attacked well during that period, but it wasn’t just that, it was the whole second half, so we’ve got to hand it to them.”
Ireland have generally been good at weathering any tough periods in games, but on this occasion, they had no answer for the French second-half surge.
“It’s something we work a lot on with Gary Keegan,” Van der Flier added. “Even just as a group it’s the things you practice for. That’s why Gary is there, for those moments.
“From my point of view, I remember Isa Nacewa when I was chatting to him, he was always brilliant to be around for tough games, big games. I remember him saying he always wants to win, like hammer the other team, but in the back of his mind he’s always hoping we get to a point where we’re like 30 points down and have to win from there, backs against the wall and that kind of thing.
“That’s the mindset I’d always try and think of and I know a lot of the lads are the same. They’re all competitive, they relish a big challenge. That was the kind of the atmosphere I felt (against France). It was very calm and lads were getting excited to get back at them again. In this group particularly, it’s quite a positive place in those situations. The natural human instinct is not positive, I suppose.”
It will be a tough review for the Ireland players this week, who now need to pick themselves up for Saturday’s clash with Italy knowing the destination of the Six Nations trophy is out of their hands.
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How France bulldozed Ireland across dazzling second-half surge
SATURDAY’S SIX NATIONS meeting with France unravelled into a heavy defeat for Ireland, but for much of the game, the contest was playing out pretty much as most had anticipated.
It was tense, ferocious, and the margins were small. Ireland dominated the early possession and territory but failed to make it count as points on the scoreboard.
France looked dangerous throughout, and after Joe McCarthy picked up a needless yellow card for a pullback on Thomas Ramos, Fabien Galthié’s men pounced for the opening try. A brace of Sam Prendergast penalties, either side of a Ramos three-pointer, left the score 8-6 to France at the break with the game neatly in the balance.
Ireland made a blistering start to the second period through Dan Sheehan’s try, superbly converted by Prendergast, which gave Ireland a five-point advantage. Yet Ireland wouldn’t add to that tally for 34 minutes as they were torn to shreds by a French side who had more pace, more power and more punch than their hosts.
Across a devastating third-quarter surge, France crossed for three tries and rolled seven forwards off the bench while Ireland lost Calvin Nash to a yellow card.
The momentum began to shift after a poor Jamison Gibson-Park box-kick handed the French a lineout in the Ireland half.
From the resulting setpiece, France get a shove going at the maul before they continue to play off advantage after Caelan Doris is caught for not supporting his bodyweight as he attempts a steal on the deck.
The French continue to rumble forward with a series of powerful carries and it’s during this passage that Pierre-Louis Barassi ships a high contact from Nash.
The replays show Nash can have little complaint, with a yellow card a fair decision.
Yet even before referee Angus Gardner has gone back to check the tackle, France have pushed forward to score a try trough Paul Boudehent, following some slick offloading from Jean-Baptiste Gros and Maxime Lucu.
The second TMO check on the try centres around Thibaud Flament’s tackle on Peter O’Mahony beyond the ruck. After reviewing, Gardner sticks with his on-field decision and awards the try, judging O’Mahony “was retreating backward as a matador.”
The Ireland supporters in the stadium don’t agree with the call, but the try stands, and regardless of whether Gardner made the right call or not, France do extremely well to finish the try, with Gros and Lucu throwing superb offloads before Boudehent bashes through Jamie Osborne to score.
As the teams reset Barassi leaves the action, with the centre replaced by flanker Oscar Jégou, one of the seven forwards included in France’s 7/1 bench split.
Ireland are now two points behind but the momentum hasn’t totally shifted just yet. On their next attack Hugo Keenan rises to claim a Gibson-Park box-kick before Prendergast sends a low kick through to pin the French in their own 22.
But from here Galthié’s side really get motoring, starting with a crunching carry by second row Mickaël Guillard off that French lineout, who explodes into the contact with Doris and Josh van der Flier.
That carry lays the platform for Lucu to execute an excellent exit kick, as he gains 38.9m. Just like that, France have relieved the pressure.
As the teams prepare for the lineout France send in five more forwards – an all-new front row of Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille, Dorian Aldegheri, alongside second row Emmanuel Meafou and versatile lock/flanker Anthony Jelonch.
Ireland win the lineout through Tadhg Beirne before Gibson-Park sends a box-kick toward Damian Penaud on the edge of the French 22. What happens next is a stunning passage of French attacking play.
After Penaud secures possession Ramos takes a risky option with a kick and chase on the edge, and while Gibson-Park is able to claim the ball he’s soon swallowed up by Ramos and supporting French forwards.
Ireland are overpowered as France win possession back through big efforts from Grégory Alldritt, Aldegheri and Jelonch, before moving the ball into Penaud’s hands.
Ireland aren’t slow to get bodies in to support Gibson-Park, with Beirne, McCarthy and Ryan Baird all quickly on the scene, but they get blown off the ball.
Penaud’s involvement is world class wing play. Roaming infield, he fixes Bundee Aki and lures in Keenan before firing an arching pass wide to Bielle-Biarrey.
Bielle-Biarrey still has plenty to do, but the Bordeaux man shows why he’s one of the most lethal attacking threats in world rugby. The 21-year-old tears away from Robbie Henshaw before dropping the ball onto his right foot to kick beyond Prendergast – a move fast becoming a trademark for Bielle-Biarrey – and while the Ireland 10 chases hard he just doesn’t have the gas to catch the French flyer.
Ramos converts to leave France nine points up with 30 minutes still to play, but there is no way back for Ireland, who start to compound errors.
After Jelonch makes a strong carry off the restart, Lucu nails another good exit kick into the Ireland half which leads to Ireland losing their own lineout ball – Sheehan’s throw sailing over the top and into the hands of Marchand.
France then make a series of strong carries as they move into the Ireland 22 before winning a penalty after Doris is pinged by Gardner again. France initially continue with penalty advantage before the play is called back and Ramos kicks three points.
On the restart, Flament rises impressively to take the ball ahead of Ryan Bair, before Lucu hits another bomb of an exit kick deep into the Ireland half.
Keenan takes possession before Prendergast goes to the skies, and Romain Ntamack wins the ball ahead of the chasing Keenan.
Cue another thread of strong, confident French carries, before Meafou frees his hands and offloads to Ntamack, opening the door for Jegou to kick in behind.
Jegou’s kick puts Osborne under pressure and French boodies flood in, with Jegou arriving to dump the 23-year-old to the ground.
Ireland manage to keep possession before Jack Crowley kicks for touch just beyond the Ireland 22, but it’s another big territory gain for France as Nash’s yellow card period ends.
France go short at the lineout and are soon pounding through the carries, with Meafou to the fore as he barges through Doris.
A couple of phases later Meafou again steamrolls the Ireland captain.
Ireland can’t stop France from inching forward and eventually Jegou gets in for the bonus point score, finishing past a tired defensive effort from Beirne.
Ramos adds the conversion and across a dazzling third quarter, France have hit 19 unanswered points to move from trailing 13-8 to leading 32-13.
They would see out the game comfortably from here, with Penaud adding a late intercept try before Ireland crossed twice through Cian Healy and Jack Conan in the dying minutes.
Yet the result had long been beyond doubt, with France’s 7/1 bench gamble working to devastating effect.
While Ireland will also rue their failure to get on the scoreboard earlier in the game, flanker Josh van der Flier admitted they will look back at that third quarter as the most costly period of the game.
“A few things coincided,” Van der Flier said.
“Obviously when you’re a man down, you’re always one person (fewer) in the defensive line. That’s covering for someone, you always have to work that bit harder against a team like France that are likely to stretch the defence quite a bit.
“Against some teams you might not notice as much, in fairness they are a world class team, they played very well in that second half, obviously there is a lot of things we could have done better to negate their efficiency, a lot of the credit has to go them, they are a quality team.”
Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park admitted the game felt like a step up in terms of the intensity and physically they had faced previously in this year’s championship.
“It certainly felt that way. They came to play and they fronted up physically as well as playing some nice ball, they have some great players and put us under a lot of pressure and turned it into points at the end of the day, and I think deserved winners.
“The (Nash) yellow card period, I felt they managed it really well and they attacked well during that period, but it wasn’t just that, it was the whole second half, so we’ve got to hand it to them.”
Ireland have generally been good at weathering any tough periods in games, but on this occasion, they had no answer for the French second-half surge.
“It’s something we work a lot on with Gary Keegan,” Van der Flier added. “Even just as a group it’s the things you practice for. That’s why Gary is there, for those moments.
“From my point of view, I remember Isa Nacewa when I was chatting to him, he was always brilliant to be around for tough games, big games. I remember him saying he always wants to win, like hammer the other team, but in the back of his mind he’s always hoping we get to a point where we’re like 30 points down and have to win from there, backs against the wall and that kind of thing.
“That’s the mindset I’d always try and think of and I know a lot of the lads are the same. They’re all competitive, they relish a big challenge. That was the kind of the atmosphere I felt (against France). It was very calm and lads were getting excited to get back at them again. In this group particularly, it’s quite a positive place in those situations. The natural human instinct is not positive, I suppose.”
It will be a tough review for the Ireland players this week, who now need to pick themselves up for Saturday’s clash with Italy knowing the destination of the Six Nations trophy is out of their hands.
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Analysis Ireland power play Rugby six nations 2025 France The Video Review