IF THERE WERE any remaining doubts about the depth of Ireland’s rivalry with France, they were put to bed at a jam-packed Stade Marcel Michelin Clermont-Ferrand on Saturday night.
The sold-out stadium, with its steep stands and fervent supporters, shimmered with atmosphere before kick-off and things went up a few notches once the action got underway.
This was a Women’s Six Nations game of the highest quality. Though the final 26-7 scoreline in France’s favour might suggest otherwise, it was a proper battle of a Test match.
The list of class individual performances included Ireland’s Erin King, Aoife Wafer, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Fiona Tuite, and Stacey Flood, as well as France’s Carla Arbez, Teani Feleu, Ambre Mwayembe, and Madoussou Fall Raclot, but was by no means limited to them. Virtually everyone turned up in form.
And les Bleues had to be somewhere near their very best to emerge as bonus-point winners. They were brutally physical and highly accurate. It was a spicy encounter, with plenty of niggle between the two teams.
Ireland also brought so many of the positive attributes that the French did. They were powerful and purposeful, giving just as much as they got in the feral collisions.
The one area where Ireland couldn’t match the French was in their accuracy near the tryline. To be fair, they were close to doing that.
A missed touch from Dannah O’Brien in the third minute, directly after Pauline Barrat’s yellow card was an obvious spurned chance, but Ireland kept coming against the 14-woman French.
Back row Brittany Hogan was held up over the tryline in the seventh minute, with the outstanding Assia Khalfaoui, Ambre Mwayembe, and Teani Feleu combining to trap the ball.
Two minutes later, Ireland came knocking again. Hogan was initially awarded the try this time, but a TMO intervention saw it chalked off for double movement.
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To be fair, Ireland did get over through excellent hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald just after that, so Scott Bemand’s side finally scored while France were a player down with Barrat in the sin bin.
The contrast, though, was that the French marched down the other end when they were restored to 15 and came up with a snappy try through Mwayembe. After all of Ireland’s toil, it was clinical stuff from France.
That tale of the 22s continued as Ireland’s Dorothy Wall broke through and offloaded for fellow second row Fiona Tuite to thunder at the line.
An Irish try seemed certain but French out-half Carla Arbez brought Tuite to ground and then right wing Anais Grando came up with a rather miraculous intervention to target the ball and deny Tuite a chance of dotting it down. It was remarkable scramble defence.
The frustration only heightened for Ireland in the 30th minute when Moloney-MacDonald barged over for what seemed to be her second try from close range. But the TMO review this time showed a knock-on by scrum-half Emily Lane just before. No try.
So it was 7-7 at the half-time break, which might have seemed like a good position to be in if you’d been offered it before the game.
Yet the scoreline didn’t tell the tale of Ireland’s dominance of possession and territory, nor did it account for the half ending with another hard-earned French turnover metres from their own tryline as Barrat pounced at the breakdown.
Ireland had fired shot after shot but the resilient French were well and truly standing.
The sickening theme continued early in the second half with replacement back row Charlotte Escudero making another poach for the home side in their 22.
The momentum was beginning to shift now as the French, roared on by their impressive home support, sensed a chance to take control. With half an hour to go, Arbez dummied and stepped her way over to earn a first French lead.
By no means did Ireland crumble from there, but les Bleues did continue to accelerate. Grando, the denier of an earlier Irish try, finished the third French score.
Ireland kept toiling. But French finished with a flourish as replacement scrum-half Alexandra Chambon dotted down on the back of yet another big carry from centre Feleu.
So this one goes into the ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’ category for Ireland. They’ll have wondered what might have been if they’d been able to bag even just a second try in a first half that featured so much excellent build-up.
Ultimately, the lesson from this loss will be about the fine margins.
The bottom line is that Ireland had nine entries into the French 22 and scored only one try.
The home team had nine entries into Ireland’s 22 and scored four tries.
Aoife Dalton, Aoife Wafer, Emily Lane and Beibhinn Parsons with their families. Dave Winter / INPHO
Dave Winter / INPHO / INPHO
This game did underline once again that Bemand’s Ireland have closed the gap to the French, but it’s still a gap. That should and will rankle with a team who have made major progress in the last few years.
This makes it 10 French wins in a row against Ireland, with the last Irish victory coming in 2017.
Last weekend was nothing like the hammerings Ireland took from the French in 2021, 2022, and 2023. But expectations have quickly changed in this fixture, so disappointment will linger for Ireland. This one will feel like a missed chance because of the near misses.
To come away without a single match point, having had the same experience against England at Twickenham, makes it an even tougher pill to swallow.
It also leaves Ireland fourth in the Six Nations table, albeit with home games against the bottom two sides – Wales and Scotland – still to come.
France and England look destined for a Grand Slam decider in Bordeaux on 17 May, the kind of dream fixture that Ireland are still chasing.
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The near misses will rankle for Ireland after a thriller in France
IF THERE WERE any remaining doubts about the depth of Ireland’s rivalry with France, they were put to bed at a jam-packed Stade Marcel Michelin Clermont-Ferrand on Saturday night.
The sold-out stadium, with its steep stands and fervent supporters, shimmered with atmosphere before kick-off and things went up a few notches once the action got underway.
This was a Women’s Six Nations game of the highest quality. Though the final 26-7 scoreline in France’s favour might suggest otherwise, it was a proper battle of a Test match.
The list of class individual performances included Ireland’s Erin King, Aoife Wafer, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Fiona Tuite, and Stacey Flood, as well as France’s Carla Arbez, Teani Feleu, Ambre Mwayembe, and Madoussou Fall Raclot, but was by no means limited to them. Virtually everyone turned up in form.
And les Bleues had to be somewhere near their very best to emerge as bonus-point winners. They were brutally physical and highly accurate. It was a spicy encounter, with plenty of niggle between the two teams.
Ireland also brought so many of the positive attributes that the French did. They were powerful and purposeful, giving just as much as they got in the feral collisions.
The one area where Ireland couldn’t match the French was in their accuracy near the tryline. To be fair, they were close to doing that.
A missed touch from Dannah O’Brien in the third minute, directly after Pauline Barrat’s yellow card was an obvious spurned chance, but Ireland kept coming against the 14-woman French.
Back row Brittany Hogan was held up over the tryline in the seventh minute, with the outstanding Assia Khalfaoui, Ambre Mwayembe, and Teani Feleu combining to trap the ball.
Two minutes later, Ireland came knocking again. Hogan was initially awarded the try this time, but a TMO intervention saw it chalked off for double movement.
To be fair, Ireland did get over through excellent hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald just after that, so Scott Bemand’s side finally scored while France were a player down with Barrat in the sin bin.
The contrast, though, was that the French marched down the other end when they were restored to 15 and came up with a snappy try through Mwayembe. After all of Ireland’s toil, it was clinical stuff from France.
That tale of the 22s continued as Ireland’s Dorothy Wall broke through and offloaded for fellow second row Fiona Tuite to thunder at the line.
An Irish try seemed certain but French out-half Carla Arbez brought Tuite to ground and then right wing Anais Grando came up with a rather miraculous intervention to target the ball and deny Tuite a chance of dotting it down. It was remarkable scramble defence.
The frustration only heightened for Ireland in the 30th minute when Moloney-MacDonald barged over for what seemed to be her second try from close range. But the TMO review this time showed a knock-on by scrum-half Emily Lane just before. No try.
So it was 7-7 at the half-time break, which might have seemed like a good position to be in if you’d been offered it before the game.
Yet the scoreline didn’t tell the tale of Ireland’s dominance of possession and territory, nor did it account for the half ending with another hard-earned French turnover metres from their own tryline as Barrat pounced at the breakdown.
Ireland had fired shot after shot but the resilient French were well and truly standing.
The sickening theme continued early in the second half with replacement back row Charlotte Escudero making another poach for the home side in their 22.
The momentum was beginning to shift now as the French, roared on by their impressive home support, sensed a chance to take control. With half an hour to go, Arbez dummied and stepped her way over to earn a first French lead.
By no means did Ireland crumble from there, but les Bleues did continue to accelerate. Grando, the denier of an earlier Irish try, finished the third French score.
Ireland kept toiling. But French finished with a flourish as replacement scrum-half Alexandra Chambon dotted down on the back of yet another big carry from centre Feleu.
So this one goes into the ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’ category for Ireland. They’ll have wondered what might have been if they’d been able to bag even just a second try in a first half that featured so much excellent build-up.
Ultimately, the lesson from this loss will be about the fine margins.
The bottom line is that Ireland had nine entries into the French 22 and scored only one try.
The home team had nine entries into Ireland’s 22 and scored four tries.
This game did underline once again that Bemand’s Ireland have closed the gap to the French, but it’s still a gap. That should and will rankle with a team who have made major progress in the last few years.
This makes it 10 French wins in a row against Ireland, with the last Irish victory coming in 2017.
Last weekend was nothing like the hammerings Ireland took from the French in 2021, 2022, and 2023. But expectations have quickly changed in this fixture, so disappointment will linger for Ireland. This one will feel like a missed chance because of the near misses.
To come away without a single match point, having had the same experience against England at Twickenham, makes it an even tougher pill to swallow.
It also leaves Ireland fourth in the Six Nations table, albeit with home games against the bottom two sides – Wales and Scotland – still to come.
France and England look destined for a Grand Slam decider in Bordeaux on 17 May, the kind of dream fixture that Ireland are still chasing.
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