Analysis: When French teams play away from home, they expect a "warm reception" from the opposition immediately after the kick-off. They never got one this weekend. This happens week in, week out, in the French championship, but it didn't happen on Saturday, writes Donal Spring

The whole thing was actually surreal. There seemed to be as many French as Irish supporters in the crowd, if not in numbers then certainly in terms of noise.

This again raises the question of ticket distribution and corporate involvement in the game. Money, rather than contribution to the game, seems to be a decisive factor, which is sad. The allocations sold by some senior clubs to help their financial difficulties would appear to have finished in the French market.

We didn't hear a genuine version of The Fields of Athenry until Brian O'Driscoll's late try, but most extraordinary was that when the Irish captain scored we were only two points behind, having been outclassed in all departments since the kick-off. Suddenly there was the chance we could steal victory.

The French had controlled the match from the start, and it was reminiscent of what they did in Paris last year. They mauled superbly into the wind and their domination in the lineout gave them the necessary platform. They also had far greater options along the backline.

At half-time I thought we were in for a hammering. But fortunately the French made unforced errors in the second half and seemed to take their foot off the accelerator. They allowed us back into the game, as they had two weeks ago against Wales.

We cannot complain about the result. Clearly the better team won, while Ireland, unfortunately, did not play at all well. Losing either Shane Horgan or Gordon D'Arcy is a burden, but losing both made the Irish backline look unbalanced and put too much pressure on O'Driscoll. Remarkably, even when having a quiet game by his standards, he still provided a touch of brilliance to put us back in contention.

The head-butting incident with Benoit Baby was totally unacceptable. Ireland were awarded a penalty at that time and, if it was for the head-butting, the referee should have taken more severe action or at least sinbinned Baby.

That incident sparked off the best phase of Irish play and it was probably the only period that we showed the kind of passion that was always going to be necessary to beat the French.

I wonder what Andy Robinson and the RFU refereeing staff have to say about Mr Spreadbury. His officiating of the match was not the difference between the teams by any means, but technically it was worse than Kaplan two weeks ago. The last French score shouldn't have been allowed; Serge Betsen should have been penalised for taking out Peter Stringer without the ball. The referee was there and clearly saw it.

The Irish decision to kick to touch instead of taking three points with 16 minutes remaining and nine points down was incomprehensible. Taking the three points would have put us within one score and that would have put pressure on France. We'd plenty of time left. But that decision was indicative of the fact that we were under pressure from the start. We were playing catch-up from early on and never had any composure.

If France had not scored their last try and the losing margin were two points, there would be a lot more debate about the decision not to take the kick.

The Irish players now face a huge test of character in Wales. A win will bring another Triple Crown and possibly the championship and will save the season. But a defeat will turn what was potentially an historic year into a disappointing one.

Eddie O'Sullivan probably won't make changes. It doesn't seem to be in his nature. I think he should. The team needs an injection of enthusiasm.

Wales were clearly full of confidence against Scotland yesterday. We shouldn't read much into it, as Matt Williams's side were so bad. Ireland have had very good results against Wales in recent years and we can certainly beat them next Saturday. Their season has been miraculous, helped by England lacking a place-kicker and the French falling asleep when they probably thought they had the game won.

Wales's position at the top of the table represents an achievement way beyond their ability, and just as France found the pride to save their season following defeat by Wales, we must do the same next week.