Jack Conan: Ireland must lean on learnings from previous visits to France

Jack Conan during an Ireland Rugby squad training session at The Campus in Quinta do Lago. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Ireland will go back into the lions’ den in Paris this Thursday keen to avenge their heavy Dublin defeat of last season with Jack Conan urging the 2026 team not to forget the valuable lessons of their two most recent Guinness Six Nations visits to France.

From the stage fright under the lights at Stade de France in 2022 to the perfect riposte in Marseille two years later, Conan and Ireland have shown they can not only learn from their mistakes but implement those lessons to good effect. 

Following the chastening 42-27 round-four defeat to the French at Aviva Stadium 11 months ago, Ireland’s British & Irish Lions No.8 believes there are some extra classes to take as Andy Farrell’s squad gets match week up and running at their training base in Portugal.

There is also some fresh blood to bring up to speed and the 55-cap back-rower said it was up the senior players to pass on their knowledge of those past encounter to the less experienced members of a 31-player squad, 17 of whom have 10 Test appearances or fewer.

“It's really important that the lads who were there share the learnings we had from that day because that was a tough outing for us,” Conan said of the 30-24 loss in February 2022. “We were nowhere near our best and fairly within ourselves, so we have to make sure that that doesn't happen again.

“With the lessons from ‘22 and ‘25, there's loads of lessons there that we can take that are still very applicable to next week. So that's on us as all the lads in the leadership group to drive that.” 

Conan, 33, said the ’22 defeat was channelled positively into the return fixture at a raucous Velodrome in Marseille, when Ireland dominated their hosts in a stunning 38-17 victory.

“I think in 2024 we took a lot of lessons from 2022 when we went over. I know we went over in 2022 we played in Paris and it was Marseille in 2024.

“I think we probably let the occasion get to us a little bit in 2022. We spoke about that, just talking about the noise and the tempo in how they want to play and things like that. So I think we were just in good stead coming into 2024.

“It was obviously post-World Cup. It was the first time we were all back together after that disappointment in 2023. So I think it was just knowing what it was going to be like over there, the majority of the group having experienced it two years earlier and obviously had the experience of playing in France throughout the World Cup.

“I'm sure they were very disappointed with how they performed that day. We were pretty good, but it was a good confidence builder going into the rest of the campaign. We haven't spoken about it yet, but I'm sure that will come later on this week.” 

Also on the agenda for the remaining four days of preparation before their championship opener is last March’s home reverse, though Conan has already identified the major area of the game where the 2025 champions-elect dominated, halting Ireland’s bid for a historic Six Nation hat-trick of consecutive titles.

“I think more than anything else, it was just the physicality. We probably let ourselves down a little bit.

“A lot of the one-on-one collisions, just giving them easy metres. We know they want to keep the ball alive and if you aren't winning collisions, it's very easy to throw it offloads and things like that.

“You're not getting any time in the tackle. You're not getting a point of reference for your defensive setup to actually get up off the line.

“If you let them get over the gain line and you're missing collisions or you're a bit slow and they're on the front foot, you're constantly backtracking and it's very difficult to get off and shut them off.

“We haven't spoken about it yet, but I know the lads who played last year will obviously have that fresh in their mind.

“I don't think they've changed a whole lot in how they want to play. They've probably gotten better at it since then even. It'll be a big challenge for us defensively.” 

Conan said there was confidence knowing how good Ireland can be, despite France being favourites for both Thursday’s match and the retention of their title.

“Yeah, absolutely, like we've done in the past. Irish people as a society and as a country probably like being the underdogs a little bit. We know it's going to be unbelievably tough, but we back ourselves against anyone. 

"It's a great opportunity between now and then to continue to continue to get better and to put out a good performance out on opening night.”