February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
More than anything else, France came to Dublin seeking redemption after their own hopes of a Grand Slam had been shattered by Wales. The question was: would the French pout or play? In the end, they did more than play. Their performance in a scintillating first half was reminiscent of the very best of open, running rugby from the country that invented open, running rugby.
For a while, Ireland were chasing shadows. Their forwards were comprehensively outmuscled and their backs were torn to shreds on a couple of occasions. Not even the divine talent that is Brian O’Driscoll could inspire the home team. The Irish had played with a strong wind in the opening 40 minutes and still they trailed by 18-9. The party had been well and truly pooped.
It’s probably a measure of the improvement in the team that an opportunity to win a second successive Triple Crown (wins over England, Wales and Scotland) by beating Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, and indeed to still win the championship itself, is regarded as a poor relation to the dream of the Grand Slam.
Wales, meanwhile, crushed Scotland by 46-22 in Edinburgh and a win over Ireland will give them a first slam since 1978. There is still much more than pride to play for.
Even though O’Driscoll and his team clawed their way back to 21-19 with a quarter of an hour remaining, France were the stronger, more composed outfit. And it was only fitting that they should claim the game’s final try in injury time to put a more realistic balance on the scoreboard.
“That’s sport,” shrugged coach Eddie O?’Sullivan, “and there’s always a danger of beating yourself up too much after a game like that.
“It’s not the first time we’ve lost a game of rugby, but it’s a big one to lose and we’ll have to get on with it. France are a helluva team and if they?re in the process of rebuilding then we’re all in trouble.”
As for the captain O’Driscoll, there was still more than a crumb of comfort from the chance of another Triple Crown.
“We’re hugely disappointed that the Grand Slam has got away, but we have a chance to win something and maybe to deny Wales the slam as well,” he said.
The concrete defense that Ireland had built in the win over England was sorely absent last Saturday as France seared through for two early tries by Christophe Dominici and new cap Benoit Baby. Ronan O’Gara ensured some respectability with three penalties, but it was clear that the home side was in deep trouble.
With the lineout, the customary launch pad for attacks, badly malfunctioning and with the likes of Geordan Murphy and Anthony Foley struggling for form, the omens were bad. O’Gara and Dimitri Yachvili exchanged penalties in the second half, but when O’Driscoll scored a stunning individual try, which O’Gara then converted, the margin was suddenly, and surprisingly, just two points.
However, France regrouped and Dominici added a second try when the otherwise outstanding Malcolm O’Kelly lost the ball in contact. The only sour moment in a fully deserved French success was a reckless head-butt by Baby on O’Driscoll that certainly merited a sin-binning, if not sending off. Baby will probably be cited and could now miss the final game against Italy.