Fantastique? Does that mean heartbreaking?

TWO POINTS is no longer the most dangerous lead when time is running out in Croke Park. Ireland were four up with time nearly up in yesterday’s historic Six Nations clash with France only to see Vincent Clerc score a sensational match-winning try.

Most of the 81,572 crowd went home unhappy with the 20-17 defeat. But not the occasion. Yes, there were French accents outside Barry’s Hotel, swapping deux Upper ‘Ogans pour trois dans le Cusack’. A lifetime of haggling wouldn’t prepare a tout for that. The stadium announcer welcomed everyone to Lansdowne Road early, but it’s hard to break the habit of one hundred and thirty years (how did they manage to lay on the rainbow before the game, though?).

Rugby fans will have to learn some Croker etiquette, mind, such as interrupting long before the end of Amhrán na bhFiann. Ireland’s Call was also played, and contrary to expectations it wasn’t heralded by four horsemen in the sky announcing the end of the world. The French showed a certain ignorance of procedure also, warming up at the Canal End: don’t they know the boys in blue always go to Hill ‘Seize’ before the game?

Annoyingly, the French disregard for the occasion rather than the game continued into the match itself. After a week of the First Rugby Ball In Dublin 3 and the First Sheepskin Jacket In the Stand, David Skrela, unburdened by what now seems like several centuries of hype, knocked over a couple of penalties to give France a six-nil lead. Ireland only scored in the tenth minute, when Ronan O’Gara landed a penalty. He thus became the first Cork man to get three points in Croke Park for putting the ball over the bar.

France replied with a try. Geordan Murphy won’t enjoy seeing the replay of Raphael Ibanez stepping around him, but Ireland responded on the half-hour: O’Gara had to improvise an attack to the left, and when Shane Horgan made ground he delayed his pass to David Wallace a crucial half-second. The flanker drew a tackler, flipped a deft pass to O’Gara looping around in support, and the out-half touched down in front of the Davin Stand. He’d had a scratchy first half, like many of his colleagues, but his enterprise entitled him to a fist-pump of celebration. Ireland went for their cup of tea two points down.

O’Gara continued his good work after the break, nudging Ireland ahead with another penalty. Denis Hickie side-stepped through on 52 minutes, giving several Frenchmen twisted blood, and although his pass to Geordan Murphy was inches too high, the initiative was in the green corner.

Marcus Horan’s clever grubber kick with ten minutes left might have led to a try, but Imanol Harinordoquy checked the Munster prop slightly on his way past; perhaps after Simon Easterby’s encounter with Chris Czekaj last weekend we shouldn’t be too quick to point the finger at referee Steve Walsh for not penalising the Frenchman.

It looked like Ireland’s game when Lionel Beauxis’ late drop-goal effort came off the post just after that, particularly when O’Gara lined up a 78th minute penalty. The silence for the kick was audible in Thomond Park, and the out-half pushed Ireland four points ahead. France kicked off with thunderous applause ringing in their ears.

“Four points up with two minutes to go, and unfortunately we lost the ball, it didn’t go with us,” said Ireland’s Denis Leamy afterwards. “I thought it was important to secure the ball, obviously, but it was a very good kick-off. Unfortunately they contested very well, they got the ball back, then they played it very well to get in under the posts.”

That they did: Clerc ran straight as a blade to touch down under the posts, with Beauxis’s conversion a formality. The game barely restarted before it was over, and Ireland had been burgled in their own back yard.

“We thought we had it, then denied . . .”: Ronan O’Gara’s expression said it all after the game.

“We knew there was only ninety seconds to go. It was good out there, tiring, which you expect. I thought the boys showed great character, good skill levels — I thought they were dead and buried, that we were getting on top. By their reaction when they scored, they looked as shocked as we were.”

French back row Sebastian Chabal was understandably happier: “That was a really good win for us. We had a good start but then, after fifteen minutes, we lost control of the game — we gave them too much ball and weren’t aggressive in defence. We changed that in the second half.

“When Vincent scored the try, it was fantastique.” Well, only if ‘fantastique’ translates as ‘heartbreaking’. Ireland now regroup, as lock Donncha O’Callaghan acknowledged.

“It was an incredible atmosphere, incredible support, great stadium and the players kind of feel they left people down because the result didn’t go our way. I know we performed well and hopefully the support will be as good the next day, and our performance will be better.”

That’s against England, by the way: get your bets down now on a 19-16 scoreline. As for yesterday, despite the result, Sebastian Chabal picked the right word after all. It was fantastique.