How could we ever have doubted him, or them? After all, the core of this Irish side had won 17 of their previous 18 Test matches. True, a generational outhalf and captain had ridden off into the sunset. But Andy Farrell, Paul O’Connell and the rest of the coaching ticket were still in situ, Peter O’Mahony was the standout choice to assume the captaincy and the four players promoted to the starting line-up were all in good form and logical picks.
After all, an injury-free and in-form Robbie Henshaw was a hardly a greenhorn, while he renewed both his Connacht and Lions midfield partnership with Bundee Aki. Joe McCarthy’s selection, though bold, was recognition that the 22-year-old was the form lock in the country this season, by a distance.
Jack Crowley and Calvin Nash were also the next cabs on the rank, and there was plenty of evidence to suggest they would justify their selections. Besides, there was also continuity in this slight revamp. The three full Six Nations debutants - McCarthy, Crowley and Nash - had been groomed for nights like last Friday in Marseille since they were all included on the Emerging Ireland tour over a year ago.
At the Six Nations launch Farrell had staunchly underlined that he didn’t buy into four-year cycles, reasoning that “to completely cut the legs off something and starting again can damage not just the team but the individuals within that.”
One of the understated skills of being a head coach is to be a good selector, and Farrell wasted no time in fast-tracking players like McCarthy into the squad. He understands that an infusion of new blood - particularly characters like McCarthy and Crowley - can also have an infectious effect on older teammates. Alongside McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne’s performance was an evident case in point.
Less so Fabien Galthié, even if he also eschews talk of four-year cycles. The French head coach played his opening Six Nations hand very cautiously, persuading Uini Atonio out of retirement, opting for a safety first secondrow with two recalled thirty-somethings at lock, while retaining the same midfield and playing an experienced centre on the wing.
Ireland's magic night in Marseille
On foot of this humiliating defeat, Galthié has belatedly called up seven players to the wider French squad, all but one of which was enforced. Of the other six, four are 22 or under, and the other two are 26.
In contrast to the continuity in Farrell’s coaching ticket, Galthié did not inspire many French observers after the departure of assistant coaches Laurent Labit (backs coach) and Karim Ghezal (assistant forwards coach) with the appointment of Patrick Arlettaz from Perpignan (who have yo-yoed between the Top 14 and ProD2) and Laurent Sempéré from Stade Francais.
Cue a stale and muddled French display, whereas Ireland looked energised, smarter and better coached.
The valid pre-match concerns about the Irish lineout were emphatically dispelled by the smooth 13 from 13 return, as against France losing four (three of them stolen) of their 18 throws.
Nor does this even completely relay the true story, for the quality of Ireland’s ball was also markedly superior. McCarthy not only proved an option to hit, but was akin to a forklift on the French throw.
All of Ireland’s first three tries emanated from off the top lineout ball. Their strategy of kicking down the middle of the pitch to reduce the number of French throws and generate a higher ball in play time (admittedly at 35 mins 20 seconds, over three and six minutes less than the other two games) made even more sense in light of Paul Willemse’s yellow and red cards. In the final quarter, Ireland then turned to their maul, scoring directly off it twice.
Perhaps most of all, Ireland won the gainline hands down. Their starter plays were way more varied, they used more runners off the ball and consistently took them over the gain line more than the unimaginative up the middle ploys of the French. Ireland thus maintained a more aggressive line speed in defence.
More often than not, Ireland’s short passing game and array of decoy runners kept French defenders guessing - witness Jonathan Danty being flat-footed by James Lowe sweeping behind Beirne for the latter’s try. Irish carriers also had sharper footwork before contact and failing that the breakdown work was sharp when it had to be. They also targeted Matthieu Jalibert (four missed tackles) when stationed at 13 in defence, notably when Henshaw did him like a kipper before offloading off the deck for Caelan Doris to put Nash in by the left corner flag.
While the red card was a mitigating factor, there was only one winner of this game. Indeed, over the course of the 32 minutes when the sides were evenly numbered Ireland outscored France by 17-3, as opposed to 21-14 when playing 48 minutes with a one-man advantage. France were actually angered into life by the red card.
[ Tadhg Beirne first among equals on the strength of MarseilleOpens in new window ]
This was Ireland’s biggest ever away win over France, and largest over them anywhere in 111 years, yet they left a couple of tries behind and there were a at least two very questionable calls in the penalty count (5-2 to Ireland until the red card, 11-3 to France thereafter).
The ridiculous decision by the TMO Ben Whitehouse to reverse a penalty after Jack Crowley had legitimately competed for, and won a ball in the air might even have amounted to a 14-point turnaround. France shortly scored after Crowley had found touch ten metres from the French line before the penalty was reversed.
While Scotland and England could both go two from two with home wins next Saturday, Ireland now top the table with three home games to come and have definitively turned a page from the you-know-what. Not so France, for whom this defeat might even leave them a bit broken, ala Ireland after that 2019 opening loss at home to England.
[ Andy Farrell: ‘It’s a special victory . . . and it’s there to be celebrated’Opens in new window ]
For Irish rugby, these are heady times. The women’s and men’s Sevens teams winning gold and bronze in Perth just over a week ago en route to the Olympics and now the landmark, record double of the senior and Under-20 XVs on French soil.
We possibly should have seen it coming. It all makes sense now.
PS: Thanks to Eddie Egan and other Midland Warriors from Moate for rescuing my passport! Best of luck for the season.
