Bayonne were feeding on the European champions coming to town and they will kick the shit out of you if you’re not ready. And we were not ready for the fight

The public conversation about this being the greatest Irish team is one thing, but the debate about being the best team in the world, and by a significant distance, mind, is ill-informed.

Where the respective countries are at is reflected in the bizarre situation where a World Cup semi-finalist is hosting a side knocked out in the quarter-final and it’s the latter who are unbackable favourites.

Whatever about the state of the game, surely we can’t forget why we fell in love with rugby?

Two and a half weekends into a five-game schedule in the Six Nations, it’s timely to take stock of some issues and trends, observations and concerns. For no reason better than I don’t want to start with referees, let’s look at Ireland first…and last.

After 24 minutes in the Velodrome, Jack Crowley misses a kickable penalty. Five minutes later, his international career is launched. The Tadhg Beirne try is a thing of beauty but there’s something more important than the aesthetic.

Sometimes it comes back to the old riddle: you want a player with talent and a moderate work rate, or a grafter with limited talent? (Answer: well, he has to have the talent…)

France is where it’s at right now. Unlike other major rugby leagues in world rugby, it’s all in the one country, it’s a unique lifestyle and culture and there’s a lot of security in the fact that players are guaranteed their pay cheque every month.

My opportunity to offer a personal greeting to Leinster Sunday is somewhat compromised by the one-match ban imposed by a Top 14 disciplinary committee and for that decision, I can only offer the charity of my silence

There’s an old Irish saying: If you’ve a reputation for getting up early in the morning, you can stay in bed all day. This now seems to be a cant – O’Gara is at it again – and it’s repugnant nonsense.