We’re struggling to catch up

IT’S as if a line had been drawn in the sand. Two years on from the Grand Slam and after a period of indifferent form, this was the game that would offer the clearest indication of just exactly where this Irish team sits in international rugby.

Seven months out from the World Cup, it’s better we should know these things.

A summer and autumn of discontent in French rugby — they conceded 142 points in three games against South Africa, Argentina and Australia — made them vulnerable and exposed travelling to the Aviva Stadium for the first time despite that impressive win over Scotland last week. Were Ireland capable of taking advantage?

The answer — almost, but not quite. After the slaughter of Italy in Twickenham and the ineptitude that characterised the win for Wales over Scotland in Murrayfield, the weekend finally produced a contest that went to the wire and could have gone either way.

After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in Rome, Ireland just couldn’t hold their composure long enough to repeat the feat two weeks in a row. In those situations the better side nearly always wins and on the balance of this fascinating Six Nations encounter, I felt France deserved the spoils, even if Ireland outscored them by three tries to one — that doesn’t happen too often.

All week I had a fear that the quality on the bench for France tipped the balance in their favour. It proved very significant and for once was well managed by Marc Lievremont. Ireland, on the other hand, appear to have very little faith in their bench.

Ireland did all they could to turn this one around but once again came up short against a higher-ranked team. As in the autumn, especially against New Zealand, Ireland seem to perform better against the more fancied sides, perhaps driven by a fear of failure.

The improvement in their performance from Rome was significant, but once again their execution let them down at vital moments. An overthrow at the lineout in the French 22 with minutes left on the clock proved a critical moment, as was the knock-on from Sean Cronin in the last attacking move of the game. Nobody can ever question the bravery and commitment of this side, but other teams have moved on and Ireland are struggling to catch up.

ALL of this has come about from the desire to expand Ireland’s game and the manner in which they use possession. On that front I thought they played smarter than last week, especially in the opening quarter, when they managed to put the French under all kinds of pressure. That said, the lunacy of attempting to run from their own goal-line so early in the game said all you needed to know about the French mindset.

They were still a little bit starry-eyed from their performance against Scotland and when the exuberant Clement Poitrenaud gifted the opening try to Fergus McFadden, we wondered had the old failing of not putting back to back performances together raised its head once again. To their credit the French knuckled down and displayed a resilience that had abandoned them only three months ago.

What they do have is an enormous physical presence both up front and in their three-quarters. They took over in the middle period of the first half by physically pummelling Ireland into submission at the breakdown and that pressure resulted in a succession of penalties which Morgan Parra was only too glad to convert into points. Ireland lost their discipline and allowed the French the breathing space to resurrect themselves.

They also gave an exhibition in the art of retaining possession when they did decide to kick and the manner with which Imanol Harinordoquy and Aurelien Rougerie competed for ball in the air was spectacular.

The strange thing is that the scrum, despite the best efforts of the French, was nothing like the disaster area we feared it might be for Ireland and for this the front row of Mike Ross, Rory Best and Cian Healy deserve immense credit. Healy is a young man still learning his trade in the most unforgiving environment of all and after the gruelling he got from Martin Castrogiovanni in Rome, stood up really well against Nicolas Mas despite carrying an injury from very early on.

That will stand to him.

One of the key elements, despite all the pressure to keep ball in hand because of the implications of new law interpretation, is that field position still plays a huge part in this game – especially the way Ireland play. Most of our best attacking ploys seem to stem from set-pieces and we are nowhere near as clinical on turnover possession as France are. That is why Ireland need to be deep in opposition territory to convert possession into points. When Ronan O’Gara came on, Ireland were trailing by 10 points and his first priority was to secure field position. When he achieved this with a magnificent kick deep into French territory, Ireland didn’t leave until completing 24 phases and a try for Jamie Heaslip. This Irish side has lost the ability to score from deep. Tomás O’Leary’s try was another case in point, stemming from a take and drive by Donncha O’Callaghan at the tail of a lineout once again in theopposition 22. When Ireland playin the right areas of the field, they produce.

In a game where heroic defence from both teams played such a significant part, it was disappointing from an Irish perspective that the most important try of the game should come from a basic missed tackle off a scrum by Gordon D’Arcy on Rougerie. That is unlike him.

So it’s back to the drawing board for Ireland who have two very winnable contests to come against Scotland and Wales before England come calling in March.

Ireland need the two-week break to reassess and revitalise their challenge after what has proved a difficult opening fortnight.