THE SUN WAS out on Saturday morning in Marseille as the thousands of Irish supporters who made the trip to the south of France soaked up the final hours of a weekend which surpassed even the wildest expectations.
Any win in France is a result to be savoured, with Friday’s 38-17 success marking just the fourth time Ireland have won in France over the last 52 years. That it came with a record 21-point margin made it all the sweeter. That three players winning their first Six Nations starts were central to the effort elevated the night toward dream territory.
Joe McCarthy was the man on everyone’s lips around the packed cafés and bars near our hotel in the old port, where some sipped coffee to shake off the night before and others nursed ‘demis’ to ease themselves into the day. It was a late one for the travelling media leaving the Stade Vélodrome on Friday but there were still waves of green jerseys around as our taxi brought us back into the action. Those supporters have had the luxury of toasting many fine wins during Andy Farrell’s time as Ireland boss, but the circumstances around this one added a certain significance to the occasion.
The start of the post-Johnny Sexton era always posed a potential stumbling block, and on the long walk out to the ground from the city centre predications ranged from cautious optimism to fears of a heavy defeat.
What unfolded was a dazzling display where Ireland were more accurate, ambitious and purposeful than their oddly passive hosts.
McCarthy was outstanding, with the 22-year-old’s display only reaffirming the growing belief Ireland have a truly special talent on their hands.
Jack Crowley was another who seized his chance, playing the game in his own distinctive style and showing considerable self-belief to shake off some early errors and see out the game in an increasingly assured manner.
The try-scoring contribution of Calvin Nash was another pleasing aspect for the Ireland coaches, as the three least experienced Test players in the starting team impressively slotted into a system which has brought so much success over the last two years.
Their efforts were complemented by huge shifts by the more battle-hardened members of the group. It’s almost unfair to focus on individuals but Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne, Hugo Keenan and Jamison Gibson-Park are all deserving of special mention.
Build on Friday’s result over the coming weeks and Farrell’s team will be back-to-back Grand Slam champions.
Already, it feels as though the win has brought fresh energy to the group after the deflation of last year’s World Cup quarter-final exit. Farrell has been quick to insist that loss to New Zealand is long parked, and Friday’s performance certainly had the look and feel of a team who aren’t too hung up on the past.
“I got asked the question before the game on TV there about putting it [World Cup] behind you, it didn’t even register,” said Farrell as he reflected on a deeply satisfying team effort.
“We talk about hangovers etc, there’s no hangovers with us. There is a realisation of where we’re at and where we need to go to next, and what we need to learn, and that’s it.
Hangovers are for tomorrow. We’re three months down the line, you know? That’s a big hangover if you can’t get over it in that time.
“We talk about our past performances all the time, sometimes we go back three years to say ‘we learned this’ or whatever.
“So of course we learned big things from the All Blacks defeat but it’s not a hangover, it’s just the next step in how we progress going forward as a team and that’s how it should be, in my opinion.”
Both Farrell and his new captain, Peter O’Mahony, stressed that the performance was far from perfect.
Ireland will feel they should have been more clinical when Paul Willemse received his first yellow card and for a spell their discipline slipped as France enjoyed a surge of momentum before half-time.
Crucially, they rode those moments out. Crowley was superb after overcoming those early wobbles and after Paul Gabrillagues had closed the gap in scoring the home’s side second try, Ireland’s forwards went on to finish well on top of their French counterparts.
If belief had been dented last autumn, this was an ideal tonic.
“Look, we’ve been on a journey for a long time and we’ve had lots of great experiences and banked them, and we’ve had some tough ones and banked them as well,” said O’Mahony.
It’s always about getting better and tonight was another step for the group and we spoke about it being a huge occasion for us.
“But at the same time it’s just another game for us and how calm and composed we could really be in an environment like that out there, it was a great test for the group.
“It felt good at times, certainly the first 30 minutes felt really, really good, it felt like we were all over them defensively and our attack was rolling, our lineout was going really well.
“So there were parts of it that felt really good but that last 10 minutes before half-time, we backed up a couple of penalties and then you’re under pressure against teams that good.
“We talked about taking our chances, certainly we did that at times but we put ourselves under pressure at times as well.
“So we’ve plenty to work on but there were parts of the game that it felt like, from an international point of view, a good performance.”
No-one was arguing with that.
