‘An awful way to lose ... awful’

IT was a loss of Munsteresque proportions; not quite the two bitter Heineken Cup final defeats of Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium — but close.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this on such a historic day at Croke Park. The 35 metre maul by a magnificent set of forwards to set up a 40m penalty goal for the equally magnificent Ronan O’Gara to put Ireland four points ahead with less than two minutes on the clock — that was the way it was to go, that was the way it went.

But, heartbreakingly, that wasn’t the way it finished. These French, these cursed French. Not for the first time, on occasions of great expectation, they have burst the Irish bubble. For the fourth year on the trot, they have beaten Ireland.