Injuries on top of insult for Joe Schmidt’s walking wounded
When Joe Schmidt attempted to dampen expectations at the Six Nations launch in London by suggesting that, with so many injured bodies struggling to be fit for the opening games and a demanding fixture list that sees Wales, France, and England first up, the likelihood was that Ireland were likely to finish in mid-table this time out.
Nobody took the Kiwi too seriously at the time but early indications are that Ireland are now likely to finish outside the top three for the first time since 2013. Winning in Paris can never be taken for granted, not when you have only achieved four wins in the French capital since 1952.
Yet Ireland came into this contest on the back of an unbeaten run of five games against the French with a team that carried none of the baggage that several of its predecessors shouldered when trips to the Parc de Princes or the Stade de France presented themselves every two years.
If anything, the boot was firmly on the other foot as the French fielded a side on Saturday with only two players who had previously been on a winning side against Ireland and without a single player above 50 caps.
If the odds were therefore stacked in Ireland’s favour going into the game, their were caveats.
Principle amongst them was the explosive power for the French scrum and the possibility that Ireland, after the bruising physicality of that game against Wales only six days earlier, would struggle to reproduce the same levels of physical and emotional intensity. Both proved telling factors.
Those who proclaim that the scrum has become an irrelevance in the modern game got their answer at the Stade de France on Saturday. The turning point of this game came down to the nightmare scenario that Schmidt had dreaded all week. The last place he wanted France to position themselves was with a series of attacking five-metre scrums entering the final quarter of the game but that is exactly what transpired.
By that stage, Guy Noves had played his major hand by springing the more disruptive scrummaging duo of Eddy Ben Arous and Rabah Slimani from the bench to wreak havoc against a tiring Irish front row.
By that stage, young Tadhg Furlong had been thrown into the fray and was facing the toughest examination of his fledgling career. Noves’s plan worked to a tee and a five-minute scrummaging onslaught under the Irish posts forced the visitors into conceding three penalties in a row.
It would only have been a matter of time before referee Jaco Peyper was forced to award a penalty try but that ignominy was avoided when the ball emerged from the side of the scrum for the excellent replacement scrum-half Maxime Machenaud to react and put Maxime Medard in under the sticks for the most crucial score of the game.
That killer blow was compounded even further when Ian Madigan, who had just come on for the injured Johnny Sexton, kicked the restart out on the full. This not only resulted in yet another scrum platform for the French to attack Ireland from halfway but also enabled them to establish a foothold in the Irish half of the field that they never relinquished over the closing phase of the game.
Ireland couldn’t exert sufficient pressure to secure the field position necessary to force a penalty or manufacture the drop goal opportunity that might just have offered an escape to victory. For a French team as inexperienced as this to stick to their task and eke out a win, despite a very poor opening half display, has well and truly launched the reign of Noves.
The remarkable transformation in their defensive organisation in the week leading up to this game proved decisive even if France were facilitated by an inordinate number of handling errors from Ireland in scoring positions.
While the incessant rain that fell all afternoon was a major contributory factor here, Schmidt will be very disappointed with the lack of clinical edge in the opposition 22 .
The ability to register a minimum of three points and often more when decamped in the green zone was a characteristic of Schmidt’s championship winning sides but has somehow deserted Ireland this season.
After going 47 minutes without registering a score against Wales, Ireland hit a similar barren patch this time out, remaining scoreless over the entire second half. In fact had it not been for some heroic defensive work throughout that period, the scoreline could well have been even more punishing.
For the second week in a row, Andrew Trimble made some stunning interventions and saved two certain French tries while Rob Kearney, Robbie Henshaw, and Sexton all put in massive hits to keep Ireland’s line intact. Unfortunately the dam had to burst at some stage and Medard’s try, a direct product of that punishing series of scrums, proved decisive.
What will disappoint Schmidt most was that France looked vulnerable and were there for the taking in that opening half but try as they might, Ireland just kept making crucial errors within touching distance of the try line.
They brought a very good mix to their game at that point, attacking through the hand and the boot and France were struggling to cope. As anticipated the French back three were bombarded with a variety of kicks from Sexton but somehow survived despite that fact that Teddy Thomas looked decidedly uncomfortable.
Unfortunately there is a fine line between testing that back three and presenting them with opportunities to counter attack and Medard, who had a fine game at full-back, turned defence into attack on numerous occasions.
In a one-point game, the failure of the officials and the lack of intervention from the TMO in relation to foul play proved decisive.
How Peyper choose not to review the no arms tackle from French captain Guilhem Guirado on Dave Kearney which resulted in the Leinster man having to leave the field proved crucial.
At a minimum, Guirado should have served 10 minutes in the bin and I will be very surprised if he avoids a citing from the match commissioner.
Unfortunately any such action will prove too late for Ireland.
Yoann Maestri also delivered a cheap shot on Sexton that warranted a viewing by the referee on the big screen but he too escaped sanction.
With serious injuries to Sean O’Brien, Mike McCarthy, and Dave Kearney adding further injury to insult, the news that Mike Ross and Cian Healy saw game time for Leinster over the weekend to aid Ireland’s flagging scrum was just about the only positive news for Schmidt after a very disappointing performance in Paris.
England’s impressive second half display against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico yesterday suggests that things aren’t about to get any easier any time soon.
