Ireland 18 France 11
If winning is ultimately the only commodity that matters, it also colours the landscape panoramically. Ireland emerged victorious from a physically bruising contest, with a level of attrition level visible in the scars of the protagonists.
None more so than Ireland's outhalf Jonathan Sexton, who sported a livid red, Vaseline-smeared gash over his left eye, the legacy of a clash of heads with his nemesis from Paris last year Mathieu Bastareaud; it was the second time the pair had come together in the match and both had to leave the pitch to be stitched on this occasion.
Sexton, back after his concussion hiatus, was ridiculously brave in everything he did but he’s going to have to go lower in the tackle, or risk further damage. A flawless kicking display with the placed ball and an elegant mixture in his punting and line kicking saw him awarded the man-of -match award and while there were flecks of rust, notably in Ireland’s one try-scoring chance, he deserves massive credit for his contribution.
The game rarely flowed until France chased redemption late on, Ireland holding on by their finger tips. The contest at the breakdown was feral, the collisions huge. Ireland coach Joe Schmidt will look at the manner in which his pack stood up to the physical challenge, ably led by Paul O'Connell but with every single player contributing.
Peter O'Mahony was immense, so too the Ireland midfield of Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne, while Rob Kearney had a fine game. The fact that Seán O'Brien survived to the final whistle – he did get a breather when Rory Best was sin binned – was a massive testament to his fitness on a game of this ilk.
France will look back and wonder why they didn’t show a little more adventure until desperation made them chase the game with some hard, straight running, lovely angles and clever offloading. Bastareaud was a real handful and they’ll reflect on some misfortune with injury during the game.
They dominated the breakdown for the first 60 minutes, forcing Ireland to send extra numbers in to secure the ball and edged the scrum penalty count.
They did lack precision in their handling and that let Ireland off the hook several times. The home side will reflect on a disjointed, fitful performance but one choc-full of character. The return of O'Brien, Cian Healy and the excellent Jamie Heaslip, assuming no injury legacy, are pluses to take forward, along with the victory.
The opening 40 minutes were dominated by the whistle of referee Wayne Barnes, his personal peccadillo, to penalise any player who didn't roll away or conversely was guilty of not releasing in the tackle. It made for a very staccato affair.
Barnes awarded 12 penalties in total, 10 of which were for those offences at ruck time, with a count that registered 8-4 in Ireland's favour. It was only in the last two minutes of the half that the English official actually spoke to a player. He had a chat with French captain Thierry Dusautoir about the fact that loosehead Eddie Ben Arous was twice penalised in a four-minute spell for offences at the ruck.
In mitigation Ben Arous had previously won a couple of penalties for his team as he got over the ball to good effect at the breakdown. It was an area that France shaded, getting numbers there quickly, and forcing Ireland to commit bodies to rescue possession.
Whatever about being pernickety, or the rights and wrongs of his decisions, Barnes was largely consistent in his interpretation. It was up to the players to react and on the evidence of the half they were slow learners; on both sides.
There were no real try-scoring opportunities because neither side could guarantee enough continuity; the line speed from both defences was aggressive in the main. Ireland were more structured in what they were trying to do but crashed against a blue-clad human wall that didn’t budge.
Sexton kicked four penalties from as many chances while his opposite number Camille Lopez was similarly accurate with his brace of opportunities. Ireland's outhalf took about 10 minutes to acclimatise after his 12-week layoff, throwing in a couple of errors but thereafter was imperious in that first half, both from the placed ball and his line kicking.
Ireland looked most dangerous from a couple of dinked chips in behind, their kick/chase from box kicks and re-starts was of a high calibre but they couldn’t a definitive line break. On several occasions they probed on the fringes and in wider areas but finally had to resort to the boot.
The muscular arm wrestle lent intensity to proceedings but as a spectacle it demanded a vested interest to enjoy the fare; there were very few neutrals in the crowd. Ireland escaped to the dressing room with a 12-6 lead and would have been reasonably satisfied.
Kearney’s aerial brilliance re-surfaced in the opening throes of the second half, picking Scott Spedding’s pocket as the French fullback looked favourite to win the duel; it gave the home side immediate possession and position.
The momentum was broken with a sickening clash of heads between Bastareaud and Sexton. The Irish outhalf ended up with a gash to his eyebrow that required stitching while the French centre also left the pitch for medical attention.
During Sexton's absence, Ian Madigan came on and kicked a penalty to push the home side into a 15-6 lead and then the narrative of the game took a further twist when French secondrow Pascal Pape received a yellow card for a 'deliberate' – Barnes's word after he watched the incident on the stadium screen – knee to the back of Heaslip.
The Frenchman was fortunate on the basis of the official’s assessment. It marked the culmination of an intense spell of pressure from the visitors, who moved the ball with speed, offloading in the tackle and were rewarded with good penetration. Ireland were guilty of going high in the tackle and this meant they were losing the collisions, France getting over the gain-line.
It took a fantastic rip from the excellent O’Mahony to turnover possession eight metres from the Irish line but the home side got a penalty for Pape’s indiscretion in the seconds before the Munster man’s intervention.
Lopez threw a wild pass behind Wesley Fofana and into touch after a great run by Yoann Huget as the French finally played on instinct rather than adhering to a more conservative playbook. Sexton's return after being patched up, coincided the one chance Ireland created to score a try. Taking ball beautifully off the top at a lineout in the French 22, Conor Murray found Sexton running in behind.
He had two options, pop a short pass to Payne on an inward arc or go out the back to where Ireland had a numerical advantage. He hesitated for a nanosecond and instead threw at uncatchable pass at, rather than to, Payne and the opportunity was lost.
Mike Ross was penalised twice at scrums, Best sin binned for a hand trip on Dusautoir but during the hooker's absence, the home side tagged on a fifth penalty from Sexton's boot, a superb effort from long range, to push them to 18-6.
It was the signal for France to produce their best rugby of the match, offloading in the tackle to great effect; the reward was a try for replacement Romain Taofifenua. Lopez failed with the conversion as he had done with an earlier penalty, leaving Ireland 18-11 with 10 minutes remaining.
The courage of the home players during that period was immense and credit too to must go to the French for the relentless manner in which they chased an unlikely escape clause from a contest in which they looked dead and buried going into the final quarter.
Ireland held on through, working hard for one another, to shore up gaps and hauling their aching limbs back into that thin green line. It wasn’t pretty for the most part but it was pretty effective and ultimately that is what the team and management will take forward when the English juggernaut rolls in, in a fortnight’s time.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 12 mins: Sexton penalty, 3-0; 15: Lopez penalty, 3-3; 18: Sexton penalty, 6-3; 32: Sexton penalty, 9-3; 35: Lopez penalty, 9-6; 38: Sexton penalty, 12-6. Half-time: 12-6. 49: Madigan penalty, 15-6; 68: Sexton penalty, 18-6; 70: Taofifenua try, 18-11.
IRELAND: R Kearney; T Bowe , J Payne, R Henshaw , S Zebo ; J Sexton, C Murray; J McGrath, R Best, M Ross; D Toner, P O'Connell (capt); P O'Mahony, S O'Brien, J Heaslip.
Replacements: I Madigan for Sexton (44-55 mins); J Murphy for Heaslip (60 mins); C Healy for McGrath (62 mins); M Moore for Ross (62 mins); S Cronin for O'Brien (65 mins); O'Brien for Cronin (70 mins); Cronin for Best (71 mins); I Henderson for Toner (74 mins). Not used: I Boss, FJones.
FRANCE: S Spedding; Y Huget, M Bastareaud, W Fofana, T Thomas; C Lopez, R Kockott; E Ben Arous, G Guirado, R Slimani; P Papé, Y Maestri, T Dusautoir (capt), B le Roux, D Chouly.
Replacements: R Lamerat for Fofana (15-22 mins); Lamerat for Thomas (32 mins); R Tales for Bastareaud (44-52 mins); B Kayser for Guirado; U Atonio for Slimani; V Debaty for Ben Arous (all 49 mins); Tales for Spedding (52 mins); R Taofifenua for Pape (64 mins); M Parra for Kockott (65 mins); L Goujon for Chouly (71 mins).
Yellow card: Pascal Pape (52 mins); Rory Best (60 mins).
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).
Assistant Referees: Nigel Owens, Leighton Hodges (both Wales).
