Gavan Casey

Backs:

Jamie Osborne — 6: Kicked a 50-22 — which was actually a 22-22 — to give Ireland a rare attacking opportunity on five minutes which they spurned. Otherwise, a relatively quiet but solid outing for the fit-again Leinster back,

Tommy O’Brien — 4: chipped too early on a first-half chance from a Sam Prendergast crossfield kick, then kicked one out on the full towards the end of the half as Ireland began to panic. Had a completely fruitless night in the air against the likes of Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos. His culpability in Matthieu Jalibert’s try is debatable as it was an almost guaranteed score once Antoine Dupont evaded Jamison Gibson-Park, but it was an uncharacteristically shaky night overall for O’Brien who led Ireland with four turnovers conceded.

Garry Ringrose — 4: offered nothing in attack until a late break out of his 22’, which is too often an occurrence for province and country these days. Not his greatest outing defensively either.

Stuart McCloskey — 7: His tidy assist for Nick Timoney’s try capped a fine individual display. McCloskey made the most metres of any Irish back outside of fullback Osborne (who naturally made most of those metres running back kicks), and was the only Irish player to achieve regular gainline success.

Jacob Stockdale – 5: While he’ll regret his missed tackle on Louis Bielle-Biarrey – who, admittedly, is virtually impossible to stop in such circumstances – Stockdale did make two big defensive interventions as Ireland gained momentum in the second half. Like O’Brien, had an ineffective day in the air against Theo Attisogbe and also made precious little yardage from limited opportunities in transition or attack.

Sam Prendergast — 5: Had his share of mad moments among some nice attacking contributions, which included a nice carry in the lead-up to Ireland’s first try and a monster line-kick which teed up their second. His defence is improving, but it’s not yet adequate for Test rugby; he led Ireland’s backs with 13 tackles but also missed a game-high seven.

Jamison Gibson-Park — 4: A rare poor game by the scrum-half, particularly in defence where his four missed tackles were costly.

Forwards:

Jeremy Loughman – 6: Continued his fine scrummaging form for Munster and contributed 12 tackles. Doesn’t have the all-round power to be a regular Test player – he made just three carries for no gain – but gave a decent account of himself under the spotlight in Paris.

Dan Sheehan – 6: Also scrummaged well against successive opposite numbers and threw with perfection into the Irish lineout. But aside from one early break, Sheehan was a non-factor in attack.

Thomas Clarkson — 5: Held up well on the tighthead side of the scrum and is a fine lineout lifter but achieved little else in attack, defence or at the breakdown, where Ireland were beaten up while the game was live.

Joe McCarthy – 4: A great piece of maul defence with Cian Prendergast early in second half was probably the highlight of a below-average display. Penalty concession on 26 minutes was a gamble which gifted France the chance to take a three-score lead. Was able to make just two carries with his focus shifting to the breakdown, where he often came out second best.

Tadhg Beirne – 6: Made 16 tackles and ultimately won three turnovers, but was nowhere near his influential best while the game was live. A clean day at the lineout, where he took all six of his targets.

Cian Prendergast – 7: Put in a big defensive shift on his Six Nations debut and showed a bit of snarl where other Irish forwards were lacking it for much of the first half. Was Ireland’s secondary lineout target, taking all three that were sent in his direction. Surprising to see him taken off as early as 49 minutes.

Josh van der Flier — 5: Was one of few Irish forwards who carried straight and direct into the French in the first half but equally knocked two balls forward (albeit one was from a forced Sam Prendergast offload in the French 22′). Struggled to leave his mark physically at the breakdown.

Caelan Doris (Captain) — 6: Showed up in a first half when several of his fellow leaders didn’t, really. Made 13 carries and 15 tackles but still a long way shy of his best.

Replacements:

Rónan Kelleher (Sheehan, 59′) – 6: Was fairly busy, particularly at the breakdown where he made a bigger impact than Sheehan.

Michael Milne (Loughman, 62′) — 7: Took his try well and made another big carry in its creation. Didn’t look out of place physically.

Finlay Bealham (Clarkson, 62′) – 6: Similarly threw himself around and made a greater impact in the loose than Clarkson.

James Ryan (McCarthy, 49′) — 5: At least brought some of the spite that McCarthy unusually appeared to lack.

Jack Conan (49′) – 6: Was central to Ireland’s second-half purple patch with six carries and some neat link-up play.

Nick Timoney (Van der Flier, 49′) – 7: Arguably the form back row in Ireland alongside Connacht’s Sean Jansen and surely must start against Italy after a steal and a well-taken try during an impressive half-hour cameo.

Craig Casey (Osborne, 73′) – n/a: Probably should have been brought on sooner given Gibson-Park’s off day.

Jack Crowley (O’Brien, 50′) – 6: What appeared to be a frustratingly early chip through ultimately led to Ireland’s first score. Made a couple of nice attacking contributions while also combining with Timoney to deny France a try late on.