O'Sullivan 'sick' after last-gasp defeat

Ireland head coach Eddie O’Sullivan admitted he felt “sick” by the heartbreaking manner of today's 20-17 RBS Six Nations defeat by France.

Just as Ireland appeared to have celebrated their Croke Park debut with a famous victory, Toulouse winger Vincent Clerc ran in the match-winning try seven minutes into injury time.

O’Sullivan said: “We made a slow start and France controlled the football. In the first 20 minutes all we were trying to do was contain the French.

“Once we got our hands on the ball and went at them, we’d got ourselves back into the game. I was fairly happy at half-time that we were just 13-11 down.

“The second half we took them on and made them work hard. It was always going to be nip and tuck and a couple of breaks didn’t go our way.

“But when we got the penalty Ronan O’Gara nailed it. Then from the kick off the ball bounced France’s way and they were able to score.

“We couldn’t have done any more than we did. The boys gave their guts for the cause and that was a cruel way to lose, by any standards.

“It was tough to take because I thought we’d done enough to win the game. We were smarter in the second half and had the French where we wanted them.

“They needed a lucky break to win and they got it when the ball bounced their way. It’s hard to swallow a loss like that.

“If we’d done something stupid like dropping the ball or giving away a penalty, then fair enough. But it was a lucky break and we’re unhappy about it.”

Ireland's cause was not helped by two poor decisions from referee Steve Walsh, with one of the blunders costing a certain try.

Walsh failed to play advantage when Geordan Murphy pounced on a French knock-on and ran the length of the pitch.

Later in the game Marcus Horan was pulled back by Imanol Harinordoquy as he attempted to hack the ball over the line.

Both incidents occurred in the second half when Ireland were searching for the breakthrough score but O’Sullivan refused to blame the Kiwi official.

He said: “Steve admitted at the time when he blew the whistle on Geordan that he’d got it wrong. He apologised to the boys and these things happens.

“It’s the luck of the draw and could happen to any referee. It could have gone either way with Horan and overall I thought Steve had a good game, he didn’t affect the outcome of the match.”

France dominated the first half but only led 13-11 at the interval with Raphael Ibanez’s try and David Skrela’s kicking almost pegged back by Ronan O’Gara, who crossed in the 32nd minute.

O’Gara added two more penalties as Ireland pounded France into the Croke Park turf only for Clerc to deliver the killer blow as victory appeared imminent.

Captain Paul O’Connell admitted it was a shattering defeat but still felt Croke Park’s first rugby international was an occasion to remember.

The Munster lock said: “As soon as Ronan’s penalty went over we went back and talked about securing their kick off.

“I didn’t do that and the bounce of the ball went their way and that decided the match. It’s disappointing but that’s the way it is.

“It was fabulous day and the crowd were incredible. We did the day justice, we showed a lot of character and we were so positive in the second half.

“It was a great day other than the last two minutes. I don’t think the occasion got to us.”

France captain Raphael Ibanez revealed his side had swatted up on the history at Croke Park but denied the significance of the occasion had made the victory sweeter.

The Wasps hooker insisted he was always confident France could snatch victory – even when there was just one minute on the clock.

“We were conscious of the history behind the match. We read history books all week and had a meeting when everything was explained to us,” he said.

“We knew all about the history of Croke Park but the fact it was such a big event does make the win more satisfying. It’s just a game of rugby and now we’ll see if we can go all the way.

“Even when it looked like we had lost there was still hope in the French side. We still believed we could win the game.”

France coach Bernard Laporte showered his team with praise and was delighted to have secured victory over one of Les Bleus’ group opponents at the World Cup.

He said: “Our spirit in forwards was brilliant. We stuck to our task well. We’ll take some valuable experience from this performance.

“We beat Argentina in the autumn and Ireland today so now we’ve beaten two of our rivals in the World Cup group stages.”