MUCH OF THE build-up in recent days centred on Joey Carbery, so the Ireland out-half must have been pleased with what he delivered on the big stage at Stade de France last night.
With captain Johnny Sexton missing, Carbery stepped up in the number 10 shirt for what was his first Six Nations start at the age of 26.
It has been a long time coming but the Munster playmaker looked very comfortable as Ireland came up short on a 30-24 scoreline, leaving with certain regrets but also having been encouraged by their second-half performance.
Carbery kicked superbly off the tee, nailing two touchline conversions from the left, while he had some lovely touches on the ball even when under pressure from the French linespeed.
He was relatively busy defensively too, completing 10 tackles for Ireland, and generally looked at home against what is a brilliant French side.
While the result left Ireland deeply disappointed, the performance from Carbery was among the positives. Sexton is set to return from his hamstring injury in time for Ireland’s next game against Italy, but Carbery put his hand up for another start in that fixture.
His head coach, Andy Farrell, was delighted with Carbery’s impact in Paris
“I thought he was excellent,” said Farrell. “Everyone was curious to see how Joey would go in his first start [in the Six Nations] but it didn’t surprise us.
“He was very confident and very assured in his performance and that’s only what we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks in training anyway.
“He was himself, he kicked beautifully for goal and I thought he controlled the game pretty well for us.”
It would have been fascinating to see what Ireland would have done with their 72nd-minute penalty had Sexton been on the pitch as captain.
James Ryan took on that leadership job in his absence. After conferring with the likes of Carbery and Iain Henderson, Ryan opted to go for the posts in that moment late on in the game, despite Ireland being six points behind France at the time.
Whatever about that incident, Farrell viewed this visit to Paris as a welcome step in developing the leadership within his squad.
Sexton travelled with them for the game – and was loudly booed by France supporters when he popped up on the big screen in the stadium at one stage – but Farrell was happy seeing others take on more responsibility.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to grow and for James to grow as captain in the heat of battle,” said Farrell. “You don’t get better Test matches than that. We’re going to learn and get better from that.
“I thought Joey was excellent. He was excellent because all the guys around him were pretty assured as well.”
Ireland now go into a break week but it will be fascinating to see how Farrell selects his matchday 23 for the Italy game in Dublin on Sunday 27 February.
There were a few injuries last night in Paris, with Rónan Kelleher’s the most concerning as he was forced off in the first half with what appeared to be an arm or shoulder issue. His replacement, Dan Sheehan, was excellent at hooker.
Peter O’Mahony didn’t return after leaving for a head injury assessment [HIA] shortly after he had come on as a substitute, although captain Ryan did get back on the pitch having left for a HIA just before half time.
Although they lost last night, Ireland are still in the hunt for a Six Nations title.
They will hope to see France slip up away to Scotland or Wales in the next two rounds, or at home against England on the final day. If les Bleus are beaten, Ireland come right back into contention and their losing bonus point last night could be valuable.
“The competition is obviously slightly in France’s favour,” said Farrell.
“Two home games that they’ve played and two victories for them but the competition is only just getting going so we’ll lick our wounds and learn from what was a fighting, spirited performance.
“At the same time, we’ll be honest with each other and make sure that we learn the lessons on a few decisions we made along the way.”
