From dreaming of a Grand Slam and a record third consecutive Six Nations title to talk now of Ireland needing a complete rebuild, “rarely,” writes Gerry Thornley, “can one chastening and comprehensive defeat have so wildly flipped the narrative from wild optimism to doom and gloom”. A mood somewhere in between might be more appropriate because “while last Saturday may prove epochal, it doesn’t have to be apocalyptic”.
Nathan Johns wonders, though, if there’s truth to the theory that France have shown the blueprint for how to beat Ireland. “Disrupt Ireland’s attacking flow, win the game. All teams have a kryptonite but is Ireland’s beginning to become more familiar?” “As always,” he says, “with big picture questions the answer is never a straightforward yes or no.”
Gerry, meanwhile, hears from a downbeat Jamison Gibson-Park and brings news of Tadhg Furlong, Mack Hansen and Garry Ringrose all being back in contention for the final game of the campaign in Rome on Saturday.
Was Owen Doyle impressed by the officiating in the French game? Well, let’s just say he nearly runs out of room in his column when listing all the decisions he disagreed with, referee Angus Gardner and his assistants getting “some straightforward calls wrong”, as well a few more marginal ones. So, no, not impressed at all.
Sergio Garcia holds out hope as Cyclone Alfred has his say Down Under
Owen Doyle: Some decisions made in the Ireland v France game were utterly bizarre
Referees aren’t the only ones responsible for controlling dangerous play
Red cards no surprise, curious pitch markings and everything we learned from the GAA weekend
On a decidedly happier note: it will, you’d imagine, be a while yet before Irish athletics descends from cloud nine after those three European Indoor Championship medals on Sunday. Ian O’Riordan profiles the tremendously terrific trio of Sarah Healy, Mark English and Kate O’Connor, delving in to O’Connor’s path towards becoming the first Irish athlete to make the podium in a senior multi-event discipline.
In Gaelic games, Seán Moran looks back at a hurling weekend that saw eight red cards shown in three Division 1A games, referees having been asked to enforce the rules after a couple of weeks of them being inconsistently applied. When it comes to head-high tackles in particular, Seán argues that “everyone needs to get on the same page – quickly” in an effort to cut them out.
In horse racing, Brian O’Connor sets the scene for the start of the Cheltenham Festival, the big one on the opening day the Champion Hurdle when Constitution Hill will bid to regain his title having missed last year’s meeting. Brian talks to Ben Harvey, the horse’s first jockey - “he’s a freak,” he says, “I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like him.” You could say the same for Willie Mullins who is “all but unbackable to be crowned leading trainer again for a 12th time”.
And in his Different Strokes column, Philip Reid brings us the latest from the world of golf, including LIV man Sergio Garcia - despite “defecting to the dark side” - not giving up on his hopes of making it in to Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup team for the trip to Bethpage later this year.
TV Watch: It’s day one of the Cheltenham Festival, with Virgin Media One and ITV bringing you close enough to five hours of live coverage (from 12.45). And there are four Champions League games on your screens today, the pick of them Barcelona v Benfica (Virgin Media Two and TNT Sports 1, 5.45), Barcelona a goal up from the first leg, and Liverpool v PSG (Premier Sports 1, 8.0), Liverpool somehow winning the first leg 1-0 in Paris.
