DONAL LENIHAN: Brave but battered, Ireland limp towards Rome battle

Coming into Saturday’s Six Nations face-off at the Aviva Stadium, it was always going to be a case of who blinked first.

With two sides low in confidence, under pressure from a disgruntled public and a forensic media, something had to give. In the end it is probably fair to say both faltered at key moments but Ireland will have more regrets given that they bossed the contest for longer periods.

I have spoken in the recent past of how the increased physicality of the international game is taking a heavy toll on the Irish squad and impacts on our ability to function in back-to-back internationals. The construction of Ireland’s back line in the closing 10 minutes descended into a case of last man standing as Luke Marshall, Fergus McFadden, Eoin Reddan and Brian O’Driscoll all shipped big knocks that necessitated a reintroduction of Conor Murray on the wing and Sean Cronin, a hooker, at scrum-half. It said everything about the inadequacies of the French that they hadn’t the nous in that period to close out the game.