‘The scoreline doesn’t lie,’ admits beleaguered captain O’Driscoll

BELEAGUERED Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll rued his side’s inability to live up to their pre-match hype after they were beaten by France at Stade de France.

“We came across a very organised French defence. We knew we would need a class performance from one to 15 and that didn’t quite happen.

“There wasn’t enough of the performance we’d been talking about. When we had the ball we didn’t do enough with it. The scoreline doesn’t lie.

“France kept the scoreboard ticking over and it was a real sucker punch when they got their try.”

Ireland must now thrash Argentina in their last pool match or face the prospect of an early exit.

“We have got to go out to win it and play a lot better than that,” O’Driscoll said. “It’s a big ask but stranger things have happened. You don’t ever lose faith in what you’re capable of, but so far we haven’t produced that.”

French captain Rafael Ibanez was pleased with his team’s showing, particularly after their disastrous tournament opener against Argentina two weeks ago.

“It’s a big effort from the boys. We don’t know if it’s enough to finish top but if we carry on like that anything is possible. Tonight we played with some commitment and everyone played their part. We were pretty good under pressure, but we still have another game to finish (against Georgia).”

Added Shane Horgan: “A lot of the stuff we’re trying didn’t come off. We were making mistakes as well that were punished. We were in the game at half time and felt if we got the next score, our fitness would tell, but we didn’t get enough ball and we didn’t retain it long enough.”