France 40
Ireland 5
Ciarán Kennedy reports from Toulouse
The most disappointing aspect of Ireland’s 35-point defeat to France in Toulouse this afternoon was how much damage the visitors inflicted on themselves.
Having shown signs of promise in defeat to Wales on the opening weekend of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations, Ireland made the trip to France knowing they were in for a serious step up in intensity, with a crowd of around 12,000 in attendance on a bitterly cold afternoon at the Stade Ernest-Wallon.
As expected, the home side brought plenty of flair and power to the occasion, but Ireland made the task at hand increasingly difficult for themselves as the error count piled and the penalties kept coming in a poor first-half showing, Ireland’s penalty count eventually rising to 12 come the final whistle, along with 27 handling errors.
By half-time the hosts already had the bonus point in the bag, Melissade Llorens, Laura Sansus, Audrey Forlani and Clara Joyeux all crossing as Blues enjoyed 69% of the territory in the opening 40 minutes.
Ireland went into this game realistic about their chances of causing an upset, but the manner of the defeat will still be deeply disappointing for head coach Greg McWilliams and his coaching team, who have been open about the challenging rebuilding job on their hands.
France quickly went about asserting their superiority at the home of Toulouse rugby. Out-half Caroline Drouin – who had a difficult day off the tee – kicked France into an early lead with a close-range penalty. Ireland centre Stacey Flood was then floored with a massive hit by Axelle Berthomieu after holding onto possession for a split second too long.
Weathering an early French storm, Ireland then struck against the run of play, second row Sam Monaghan getting on the end of an overthrown lineout and producing a brilliant offload to send Eve Higgins through under the posts. As boos rang out around the ground, Ireland’s joy was short-lived as a TMO check crossed out the score, Dorothy Wall deemed to have played a French defender off the ball in the lead-up.
There was just eight minutes on the clock at that point. Ireland wouldn’t get back into the French 22 across the remainder of the first half.
France responded by taking a firmer grip on the contest. Following a strong scrum in the Ireland half, they moved the ball wide to Mélissande Llorens, who managed to break the tackle of Eimear Considine and dot down, out-half Drouin missing the subsequent conversion.
Drouin then extended the French lead after Ireland hooker Neve Jones was pinged for a crooked lineout throw. Following another big push at the scrum – an area of total dominance for the home team – France were awarded another penalty, with Drouin splitting the posts.
France’s second try came off the back of another scrum, with lively scrum-half Laure Sansus peeling around the back to dart over. Kicking from the same spot as her first attempt, Drouin’s conversion dropped short.
Ireland were only seeing flashes of possession, but when they did begin to build some forward momentum it was often their own skill levels and execution which let them down, poor handling and misplaced passes killing promising moves time and again.
France went again, stringing together another smart passing move before Murphy-Crowe did well to charge Llorens out of touch. It felt like that could have been an important moment for the visitors, but the following lineout only found French hands and they went back on the attack.
Following a sustained period of possession, impressive French second row Madoussou Fall went for the line, and while scrum-half Aoibheann Reilly somehow managed to keep her out, Audrey Forlani stole in to get hands on the ball and ground it, Drouin again off-target with the conversion.
After another sloppy Ireland lineout, France added the bonus point score shortly before the interval. A brilliant team move saw them slice through the Ireland defence with a series of neat passes, Clara Joyeux eventually getting the ball down despite the best efforts of Jones and Nicole Cronin. Yet France left further point behind as Drouin missed her fourth conversion of the first half.
Ireland then threatened a late first-half score. The influential Sam Monaghan produced another smart offload to set Murphy-Crowe free, but the winger found herself completely isolated and ran into a French wall. Ireland won a penalty at the subsequent breakdown, but France stole the lineout again and ended the half, 26-0 up and cruising.
At that point, there was serious concern that Ireland would be held scoreless. They needed a big response in the second half, but started with another handful of errors, Lucy Mulhall spilling the restart before substitute Beibhinn Parsons escaped a card for a high tackle.
There was much surprise to see Parsons start on the bench for the second game running, but the brilliant Connacht winger was given a good 40 minutes here to exert her influence on the game.
After France added try number five, Sansus smartly nipping through from close range, Ireland began to enjoy their best period of the afternoon.
Parsons threatened with some clever carries down the wing, and McWilliams’ side started to look more comfortable on the ball.
With 55 minutes on the clock, Linda Djoungan made a strong carry to get Ireland good yards in the French half. Flood then spun the ball wide and Ireland tore up the right wing through Murphy-Crowe, Ireland then quickly recycling the ball back infield.
Flood was on hand again to feed short pass inside to Higgins, who showed some smart footwork before crossing the French line for the second time. On this occasion, the score stood, with even the home support applauding an excellent team try.
Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got for Ireland. France briefly lost some of the fluidity in their play as they turned to a talented bench, but settled back into the game to see out the rest of the second half with ease.
Fullback Émilie Boulard found herself in acres of space to cross for their sixth try, with replacement Jessy Trémoulière kicking the extras.
Ireland looked increasingly fatigued as a difficult afternoon began to take its toll, running into a series of dead ends as La Marseillaise rang out around the Stade Ernest-Wallon.
France’s Grand Slam ambitions remain on course, while for Ireland, next weekend’s home game against Scotland could define their campaign.
There were always going to be difficult days as this squad look to pick themselves up from the disappointments that marked their 2021 season. France served them with a painful reminder of just how big the gap remains.
France scorers –
Tries: Llorens, Sansus (2), Forlani, Joyeux, Boulard.
Penalties: Drouin [2/2]
Conversions: Drouin [1/5], Trémoulière [1/1]
Ireland scorers –
Try: Higgins
Conversion: Cronin [o/1]
FRANCE: Émilie Boulard; Cyrielle Banet, Maëlle Filopon, Gabrielle Vernier (Chloé Jacquet, 69), Mélissande Llorens; Caroline Drouin (Jessy Trémoulière, 56), Laure Sansus (Alexandra Chambon, 60); Coco Lindelauf (Annaëlle Deshayes, 56), Laure Touyé (Célia Domain, 69), Clara Joyeux (Assia Khalfaoui, 56); Madoussou Fall (Céline Ferer, 56), Audrey Forlani; Axelle Berthomieu, Gaëlle Hermet (captain) (Julie Annery, 63), Romane Ménager.
Yellow card: Émilie Boulard
IRELAND: Eimear Considine; Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Eve Higgins, Stacey Flood (Enya Breen, 73), Lucy Mulhall (Beibhinn Parsons, 41); Nicole Cronin, Aoibheann Reilly (Kathryn Dane, 56); Linda Djougang, Neve Jones (Emma Hooban, 56), Katie O’Dwyer (Christy Haney, 41); Nichola Fryday (captain) (Anna McGann, 73), Sam Monaghan; Dorothy Wall, Edel McMahon, Brittany Hogan (Hannah O’Connor, 56).
Replacements not used: Chloe Pearse.
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)