French show another side by winning ugly
This was arguably the finest illustration yet of defence coach Shaun Edwards’s impact on this upwardly mobile France outfit. So joyous in attack against Italy last weekend, Fabien Galthie’s team were far from their best in wet and blustery Dublin yesterday.
But they proved they could win ugly as well as beautiful, a couple of moments of magic and a lot of defensive grit and game-management enough to see them claim victory in the Irish capital for the first time in a decade. Le grand slam remains on.
They were made to work for it by an Ireland team who dominated possession and territory, conceded fewer penalties (five to nine) and turnovers (16 to 18), and won 100 per cent of their set-pieces. Yet still contrived to lose. That, ultimately, was the difference between the two teams: cutting edge.
Led by conductor-in-chief Antoine Dupont at scrum-half, this France side have that priceless ability to go from andante to allegro when the mood grabs them.
A brilliant team try finished off by captain Charles Ollivon arrived out of the blue. Another from Damian Penaud after the break gave France a 15-3 lead. And although Ireland fought back with one of their own through Ronan Kelleher, plus a penalty from replacement fly-half Ross Byrne – the unfortunate Billy Burns having departed for a head injury assessment after 42 minutes – Andy Farrell’s men could not complete an unlikely comeback.
Nor did they deserve to. “I thought we lost our way in the third quarter,” Farrell said.
The talk beforehand had all been about how Ireland would cope without their veteran half-back pairing of Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton. In fact, Sexton ended up being on the pitch almost as long as Burns. Acting as watercarrier, the veteran Leinster flyhalf
was frequently seen dispensing advice as well as refreshment to his erstwhile team-mates.
Perhaps this is the neatest way to phase out the Ireland legend – allow him to influence on-field proceedings without putting his battered body on the line. The problem is that no one has yet made a strong enough case to replace him.
Burns was not the problem here, but neither was he the solution. He was part of an Ireland team who dominated the first half an hour.
Captain Iain Henderson led the way, charging down a Brice Dulin clearance in the first minute. James Lowe’s booming left boot was a useful weapon, Hugo Keenan was neat and tidy, while Jamison Gibson-park and Burns kept Ireland’s pack moving forward. Paul O’connell’s positive influence on Ireland’s line-out was also apparent, and France strug
gled throughout to secure their own throws.
Their slow start gave Ireland encouragement. Matthieu Jalibert missed with his first attempt at goal, only for Burns to do likewise with a horrible shank. But the Ulster flyhalf steadied his nerves with a successful effort after 20 minutes.
It was typical of Les Bleus that they should come to life when least expected. After a cynical trip by Bernard Le Roux resulted in the France lock being sent to the sin-bin, Ireland thought they had scored when Lowe showed good strength and footwork to go over in the corner. Replays showed his right boot had brushed the whitewash.
While France were down to 14 men, they woke up. Three dreamy offloads in succession from Jalibert, hooker Julien Marchand and then Dupont sent waves of blue crashing
through Ireland’s defence. After Penaud was held up, the ball was spun left to Gael Fickou, who took advantage of Gibson-park’s overeager rush defence and threw a basketball-style pass to Ollivon, who strode over in the corner. Suddenly Dupont was throwing no-look passes behind his back.
Their second try of the game, after 55 minutes, came after Dupont switched with Jalibert, who threw a speculative pass to the excellent Dulin, who beat Lowe and arced away from Ed Byrne before popping to Penaud to dive over the corner.
Kelleher’s try raised hopes of an improbable Irish comeback, and when Byrne landed a penalty from 40 metres following Paul Willemse’s illegal tackle, it was a two-point game with 15 minutes still to play. But in a nervy finale, it was France who came closest to scoring again, Jalibert seeing a penalty come back off the post.
It is the first time Ireland have lost their opening two games of a Six Nations campaign. France, meanwhile, continue to show new aspects to their game.
“It’s interesting to tick the boxes,” noted Galthie, who has now led France to nine victories in 11 games. “Each game is not a goal in itself, we have bigger goals.”
Scores 3-0 Burns pen; 3-5 Ollivon try; 3-7 Jalibert con; 3-10 Jalibert pen; 3-15 Penaud try; 8-15 Kelleher try; 10-15 Byrne con; 13-15 Byrne pen.
Ireland H Keenan; K Earls (J Larmour 68), G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; B Burns (R Byrne 42), J Gibson-park; C Healy (E Byrne 70), R Herring (R Kelleher 54), A Porter (T Furlong 53), T Beirne (U Dillane 73), I Henderson (U Dillane 59), R Ruddock, J Van der Flier (W Connors, 65), CJ Stander.
France B Dulin; D Penaud (T Thomas 67), A Vincent, G Fickou, G Villiere; M Jalibert, A Dupont; C Baille (H Kolingar 76), J Marchand (P Bourgarit 76), M Haouas (U Atonio 56), B Le Roux, P Willemse (R Taofifenua 70); A Jelonch (D Cretin 67), C Ollivon, G Alldritt.
Referee Luke Pearce (England).
Scotland
Hamish Watson rued the Scottish indiscipline which cost his side a win against Wales, but also lambasted referee Matt Carley for his decision to send off prop Zander Fagerson for an illegal clearout early in the second half.
The flanker called it a bemusing decision, taken against advice from the television match official at a stage when Scotland were leading and trying to hold off a Welsh comeback. “That was a rubbish call, an absolutely dreadful call,” said Watson. “That’s not rugby, that call. I’ve heard the TMO said it wasn’t a red, then the ref overruled him. The ref has the right to do that if he thinks that’s the right call, but we, as players, strongly disagree with that call.
“As soon as I saw it on the TV, I was thinking, ‘That’s not even a penalty’ but the ref has overruled it and he has the power to do that. We don’t think it’s a red, a yellow or even a penalty, but that’s the way the game is going.”
Watson stopped short of claiming the decision impacted the outcome of a game in which Wales came back from 17-3 down to win 25-24. The crucial period, he said, was either side of half-time, when Wales scored tries through Louis Reeszammit
and Liam Williams to wrest momentum back and draw within two points.
“We lost that game in the last 10 minutes of the first half and the first 10 of the second,” Watson said. “We lost that game when we had 15 on the field, so Zander can hold his head high.
“There are always going to be momentum shifts. At 17-3 we definitely had momentum in our favour and were dominating. We looked like we could have scored again but we gave away a soft penalty for sealing off and then we just piggybacked them into our half. Our maul defence wasn’t good enough at times and that gave them an in.”
Having taken a 14-point lead with