Malcolm reflects on a heartbreaking defeat for Ireland in a game in which he believes France were let off the hook.
It’s been a bit of a crazy few days for myself considering that my son, Cian, was born this weekend, but being the dedicated analyst I am, I just about managed to fit the Ireland game in. I was actually watching the game on the BBC and I thought Brian Moore made a really interesting comment when he said that everything that happened in the match, whether it was good or bad, was because of Ireland. I thought France brought nothing to the table in terms of creativity; they seemed to be waiting for opportunities to arrive. Unfortunately, Ireland shot themselves in the foot on a number of occasions with turnovers and costly errors and I can imagine that people watching must have been as frustrated as I was because from an Irish point of view, the endeavour, the aggression and the physicality was there for all to see.
Ireland were brilliant in terms of aggression, intensity and desire and the structure was all there, the ambition was all there, but it was accuracy that let them down time and time again.
As I said, errors cost Ireland at crucial times, but I don’t think it’s a confidence thing; it’s more a lack of accuracy that seems to be hurting us. At this level, guys have to be extra sharp and extremely focussed on the ball, but instead we were knocking it on and being stripped of the ball at vital times which was disappointing to see. In the first half, the lineout and scrum functioned well and the errors were minimal, but Ireland were giving away penalties and keeping France in the game. At times, though, Ireland played some breathtaking rugby; they attacked with great intensity and were very aware of how slow France were to defend around the fringes of the ruck. France weren’t really competing at the ruck and as a result, Ireland got fast ball and made some serious inroads into the French defence.
Omens not good for France
Compared to the way Ireland defended and even the way Italy defended last week, I think the French defence was poor and I think that they may well come unstuck in the remaining games in the Six Nations. Certainly, England will beat them if they go into that game with a similar attitude to the one they had against Ireland. They definitely have issues to address and I think they got away with it against Ireland. As far as Ireland as concerned, they were brilliant in terms of aggression, intensity and desire and the structure was all there, the ambition was all there, but it was accuracy that let them down time and time again. Unfortunately, one of the defining factors turned out to be Gordon D’Arcy’s missed tackle on Rougerie off a set-piece that led to the French try, but that’s the challenge of playing at this level when you’re playing against top class players – if you’re not 100% right in your execution you’ll be punished. I’m not by any means saying that Darce is a bad tackler, but Rougerie just sold him one on this occasion I’m afraid.
In the second half, France were on top and there were a couple of reasons for that. Ireland’s lineout stopped functioning and they couldn’t get hold of the ball. Then they gave away penalties which came as a result of frustration when trying to win the ball back. When Ireland did attempt to play territory, it backfired on a couple of occasions, such as when Luke Fitzgerald kicked the ball out on the full and France came away with points as a result. Also, I thought that Eoin Reddan should have been introduced earlier than he was. I know Tomas O’Leary scored a try but I’m not sold on the sharpness of his delivery. Obviously Tomas and Eoin are two completely different scrum halves but when Reddan was on, there seemed to be a lot more space all of a sudden. Ronan O’Gara also had a massive influence when he came on and it wasn’t just his kicking game that was impressive, he was absolutely throwing himself around the place and really getting stuck in.
ROG good, but Sexton should keep his place
That’s twice now that Rog has had impressive cameos, but I think it would be harsh on Jonny Sexton if Rog was given a start at out half in his place. Jonny didn’t put a foot wrong, OK, he did put one pass down but that’s not in his nature at all. In fairness to Rog, he delivered a great cameo and that’s what you want, but with all due respect to him, I think that the team would be taking a step backwards if he was to replace Sexton. It’s great that we are blessed with two really good tens and it might be only fair to give Ronan a shot, but I personally think it would be wrong to drop Jonny.
Ronan O’Gara has impressed on his last two outings, but Malcolm believes that Jonny Sexton should hold on to the number ten jersey
From an individual perspective, I thought Brian O’Driscoll was brilliant; I thought Fergus McFadden was excellent, certainly in the first half when he got opportunities he took them really well, even though he didn’t have a huge amount to do in the second half. I thought Jamie Heaslip made a good solid comeback and even though I would have liked to see him take more ball on, he made some good hard yards and kept putting in the tackles. I thought the pack in general did pretty well and the likes of Seanie O’Brien and Dave Wallace in particular were excellent. OK, Seanie put down a few balls and he’ll be hard on himself about that but himself and Dave Wallace put in some really hard yards throughout.
Tough lesson learned
The defeat is a massively hard lesson for Ireland to learn. There are a lot of young lads there and they have to realise how good they can actually be. I think this Ireland team can be brilliant, there’s no issue with physicality, there’s no issue with fitness and there’s no issue with the scrum either, our scrum was as strong as theirs was. In defence, we had very little problems coping with a side with the expertise and class of the French and we’re well capable of being creative in attack ourselves.
Small things went against us throughout the game. The likes of Fergus McFadden not winning a kick-off or Luke Fitzgerald kicking to touch on the full in the second half, these are the small, tiny things that make a difference. Guys like Fergus have only come into the team and games like this will provide valuable experience for himself and the other new guys when they go back to their provinces. It’s a steep learning curve at this level and Ireland paid a harsh penalty. That France team were there for the taking and I don’t mean to say that France are a bad side – they’re a very good side, but Ireland put them in the position where they were there for the taking, but instead of putting the knife in they let them off the hook. It’s a massive opportunity lost and it will be two years before they’ll have a cut at the French at home again and who knows how the teams will shape up at that stage?
I thought that Eoin Reddan should have been introduced earlier than he was. I know Tomas O’Leary scored a try but I’m not sold on the sharpness of his delivery.
I feel bitterly disappointed for the lads, but they should be proud of themselves for putting themselves in the position to win in the first place. I think Harinordoquy paid them a massive compliment afterwards when he said that the French side feel very lucky to have come away with anything from the game. He said that it’s never easy to come to Dublin to get a win and that he has only won twice here in ten years. Ireland just need to find the belief within themselves that they are capable of winning these matches.
Although the Grand Slam is gone now, there’s plenty still to play for. The Triple Crown is still on the cards and it gives us an incentive to get back to winning ways. I don’t think Ireland are a million miles away from where they want to be at the moment. If they can just execute the style of play they’re trying to play they can really open teams up. Ireland are trying to play an open, expansive style of rugby and there’s plenty of opportunity to keep doing so in the rest of the tournament.
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