'Not good enough from us' — Captain Doris laments Irish sloppiness in Paris defeat 

ARM WRESTLE: France's Thomas Ramos is tackled by Ireland's Caelan Doris and Tommy O'Brien. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady

Ireland captain Caelan Doris refused to hide from the harsh realities his side faced after a bruising Thursday night trip to Paris. In what was as chastening an opening to a championship as Ireland have had for some time, Andy Farrell's side suffered a 22-point defeat to a French side that were mostly rampant at the Stade de France. 

While there was a lull from the hosts midway through the second half, the reigning champions were mostly dominant, the 14 points Ireland plundered in that spell threatening to skew the scoreline somewhat. An emphatic exclamation point courtesy of winger Theo Attissogbe gave the 36-14 scoreline a more accurate look. 

Doris lamented Ireland's sloppiness and inability to stem the French tide once Antoine Dupont got his side purring in Saint-Denis. 

"That's definitely not how we foresaw the start of our campaign going. We left ourselves too tall of a mountain to climb in the first half," the Leinster back row said. "We were lacking a bit of fight definitely. Some class from them but not good enough from us. We didn't shut them down enough. Not good enough from us in the collision. Our kick chase let us down. Some grit and determination in the second half, good impact from our bench but very disappointing overall."

The numbers were ugly for Farrell's side. Ireland missed 16 tackles inside the first 30 minutes as the French threatened a historic rout. The final tally for Ireland read 35 missed tackles, 21 turnovers lost and six penalties conceded. 

"Not only was it 19 missed tackles [in the first half] but the amount of offloads we allowed them to get away," said Doris, whose side must now pick things up as they open week 2 with a Saturday lunchtime showdown against Italy in Dublin next week. "We allowed them to do that way too much. I think some of our defence played into their hands. It was exactly what they wanted. They flourished with that."