Andy Farrell: Ireland didn't lack composure, they lacked grunt

France's Theo Attissogbe attempts to tackle Ireland's Stuart McCloskey. Pic: Ben Brady/Inpho

Whether you saw Ireland’s demolition at Stade de France as a sign of terminal decline or merely the latest blip during a difficult period of transition for the national team, Andy Farrell’s side must face Italy in seven days either way and the head coach needs a positive response from his players.

Thursday’s Guinness Six Nations 36-14 defeat to France was the latest setback for an Ireland squad that has fallen off the pace set by world rugby’s elite through a series of worrying results.

Farrell was seething but unbowed by his team’s Parisian nightmare, as every error was ruthlessly punished and an Antoine Dupont-inspired team dazzled at their expense, 22-0 up at half-time, 29-0 after 46 minutes with a try bonus point in the bag.

Energised by a strong bench, Ireland eventually responded with a couple of tries around the hour mark from championship debutants Nick Timoney and Michael Milne, but in truth that merely papered over the cracks and France finished as strongly as they started with a fifth try on 80 minutes from Theo Attisogbe.

Asked for an injury report, Farrell cited wounded pride as the chief malady as the pressure now shifts towards a potentially awkward visit from Italy to the Aviva Stadium next Saturday.

This is not the opportunity against Six Nations whipping boys it once was and with a trip to Twickenham to face England looming seven days later in the competition’s newly condensed format, Ireland supporters should buckle up for a bumpy ride.

“I think it was going to be challenging anyway,” Farrell said. “Italy are not the Italy of old, I think we all realise that.

“We know that we need to be on point to beat them. But there has to be a response to this, otherwise it’s for nothing.”

The head coach remains positive he still has the players to turn things around in the short term, as painful as their “lack of intent” – his phrase - was to him. Farrell also demanded the experience in Paris must stand to his new-look, injury-hit squad in the longer term.

“I said during the week that whatever happens it has to stand to us because it’s another experience for a different enough group, with all the injuries, firsts for people who are not established internationally just yet.

“That has to stand to us down the line.”

Yet it is the here and now which will exercise players and coaches alike when they return to the IRFU High Performance Centre in Abbottstown on Monday and begin the task of regrouping mentally, and fixing myriad technical issues, not least defensively.

France’s counter-attack was too good for an off-key, passive Ireland in that first half as Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Mathieu Jalibert and Charles Ollivon ripped the thin green line apart with joyful abandon, defying the wet-ball conditions to ruthlessly exploit errant kicks, poor decision-making and some woeful tackling.

“It was almost as though we were ready for them to play wet weather rugby and they wasn’t, you know?” Farrell said.

“You earn the right to offload and that’s because you’re winning collisions.

“They earned the right, through the contact. It’s not as though they were throwing risky offloads or 50-50s or whatever. They’d earned the right to do that and the pace they’ve got to finish that off is there for everyone to see.

“I wouldn’t say (it was a lack of) composure,” he added. “Sometimes you want a bit more grunt and I suppose that’s the opposite of composure really.

“I think that’s what was lacking.”

The Ireland players are set for an uncomfortable review on Monday morning as the management consider selection options.

There were some positives amid the chaos at Stade de France, with the penalty count dipping into single digits three months on from the card-fest that was the Springboks defeat, though a Joe McCarthy offside in front of the posts which allowed the excellent Thomas Ramos to push the score to 15-0 was a bitter pill to swallow.

Not so the Irish set-piece, with an efficient lineout and a rock-solid scrum that belied the pre-game concerns for the challenge awaiting fourth-choice loosehead prop Jeremy Loughman and fellow injury stand-in Thomas Clarkson at tighthead.

“They did well, didn’t they?” Farrell ventured.

“I thought Jeremy Loughman did himself proud. Tom Clarkson had a bit of a twinge in his back as well. He fronted up and played really well.

“The scrum wasn’t what everyone was thinking it was going to be. It wasn’t just solid neither, it was way better than that. So, that’s one aspect.”

Also impressive was Loughman’s work rate, completing 12 tackles during his 59 minutes before making way for Munster team-mate Milne.

“And one or two of them were dominant as well,” the Ireland boss said. “They were hitting the spot. He can be very pleased with himself.”

Satisfaction, however, is not the overriding emotion running through the Ireland camp this weekend. Some challenging days lie ahead.