Ireland rue costly errors

A monumental second half fightback in Paris so nearly saw Ireland record one of the most unlikely results in Six Nations history, after an error-strewn opening period shipped four tries to their hosts.

Two more tries in the early exchanges of the second half gave France a 43-3 lead with 50 minutes gone and Eddie O’Sullivan’s men looked dead and buried, betrayed by the open expansive approach they took to the field.

Six tries down - five of which could be attributed to sloppy Irish play - and Ireland found a rhythm. The passes began to stick and Ireland started to expose gaps in the centre of the French defence as the homeside abandoned defensive duties.

Outhalf Ronan O’Gara opened the Irish tryscoring to restore some pride.  Gordon D’Arcy came up with another to offer some hope before Donncha O’Callaghan’s effort silenced Stade de France.

When Andrew Trimble, on for Tommy Bowe, collected off the shoulder of captain Brian O’Driscoll before strolling under the posts, the homeside looked stunned.

Only a bout of butterfingers from Geordan Murphy - not his first of the day - prevented Ireland from coming within a score of France and really unsettling an irritable home crowd.

Undeniable however, despite the near romance of the revival, were the early blunders that were capitalised on brilliantly by France.  Only one of the home side’s tries - Cedric Heymans’s second - was created purely by their own skill.

Ireland looked in trouble when they were pushed back at two consecutive scrums and had their line breached in just the third minute.

The second buckling scrum saw the ball released to the backs where Tommy Bowe’s missed tackle on Heymans created an overlap which Aurelien Rougerie - recalled to the side on Thursday - faced by Geordan Murphy on the wing.  Rougerie rounded the Leicester wing on the outside far too easily to finish in the right corner.

Ireland responded with O’Driscoll making a couple of darting runs in search of an immediate reply. Scrumhalf Peter Stringer almost wriggled over before being shoved back by a diligent French defence.

Ireland’s revival was short-lived as France ran in their second try thanks to the vision of Heymans whose quickly taken 22 drop-out found space on the left. Denis Leamy and Murphy covered across but the pair misjudged the bounce and the ball fell to the onrushing Fredi Michalak who supplied the scoring pass to the recalled Olivier Magne.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde added the two points and the problems continued for Ireland when one promising move ended with openside David Wallace running out of space with no support.

By the 18th minute Ireland looked beaten as France had extended their lead to 19 points after David Marty charged down Ronan O’Gara’s clearance, gathered and touched down. Elissalde converted again.

Ireland looked to bring in Shane Horgan off the wing as often as possible and the tactic worked with the Leinster back frequently crossing the gain line. But they were often losing the ball at the breakdown with France’s backrow gaining ascendancy in the loose.

O’Driscoll lost the ball in the tackle as Ireland probed down the left touchline, allowing France to clear their lines, while Murphy and Gordon D’Arcy sent two woeful passes into touch, as Ireland persisted with a recklessly expansive approach.

Ireland finally had something to show for their pressure when O’Gara booted his second penalty over the bar but it was a hard fought three points and made redundant immediately afterwards when Elissalde replied in kind.  France then claimed their fourth try through a wild pass thrown by Murphy.

O’Sullivan will be furious with the manner in which it was scored as Murphy floated the ball to no-one in particular and Heymans gratefully intercepted and romped home. Elissalde booted the extras to give France a 29-3 interval lead and Ireland looked to have no way back.

The second half began in the same vein as France extended their lead four minutes in with a powerful run from Rougerie, who had come off his wing, doing the damage in midfield. Marty was on hand to continue the move before the ball was spun wide to Heymans who made light work of the simple run-in and Elissalde again kicked the conversion.

Three minutes later the damage O’Gara kicked the ball straight at Marty who caught and dashed over the whitewash from 20 yards out.

Ireland set about defying the odds anyhow and Murphy provided some inspiration when breaking from deep before the ball found Wallace via D’Arcy only for the Munster openside to be tackled five metres short.

Pressure was maintained in waves of attacks and eventually the French defence collapsed with O’Gara scampering home and converting his own try.

Ireland struck again in the 70th minute with D’Arcy finishing a break from Stringer as a raft of substitutions had left France looking disjointed.

Donncha O’Callaghan then barged over and O’Gara converted to slash the deficit to 43-24 and there were a few worried faces when O’Driscoll set up Ireland’s fourth try for Trimble, with a stunning break through the middle and perfectly timed pass to the young Ulster wing, who touched down under the posts.

What looked like a game of sevens then ensued as Ireland piled the pressure on in search of the most unlikely of results, but urgency and desperation led to the re-emergence of some of those early errors and the clock called time on a game that asked as many questions as it answered.

France: Tries: Rougerie, Magne, Marty 2, Heymans 2.

Cons: Elissalde 5. Pens: Elissalde.

France: Dominici, Rougerie, Fritz, Marty, Heymans, Michalak, Elissalde, Milloud, Ibanez, De Villiers, Pelous, Thion, Nyanga, Magne, Bonnaire.

Replacements: Boyet for Michalak (69), Yachvili for Elissalde (59), Marconnet for Milloud (59), Bruno for Ibanez (47), Nallet for Nyanga (71), Martin for Magne (59).

Not Used: Valbon.

Ireland: Tries: O'Gara, D'Arcy, O'Callaghan, Trimble.

Cons: O'Gara 4. Pens: O'Gara.

Ireland: Murphy, Horgan, O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Bowe, O'Gara, Stringer, Corrigan, Flannery, Hayes, O'Kelly, O'Connell, Easterby, Wallace, Leamy.

Replacements: Reddan for O'Driscoll (77), Trimble for Bowe (62), S. Best for Corrigan (51), O'Callaghan for O'Kelly (51).

Not Used: R. Best, O'Connor, Humphreys.

Att: 80,000

Ref: P Honiss (New Zealand).