Match Report - Late tries mar Ireland's thumping of hapless France
Ireland rediscovered their 2018 mojo to thump France 26-14 and sustain their slender Guinness Six Nations title hopes.
Captain Rory Best, talisman fly-half Johnny Sexton, Jack Conan and Keith Earls all crossed as Joe Schmidt’s men hit back to form, with Yoann Huget and Camille Chat claiming late consolations for the disorganised French.
Ireland’s bonus-point win means victory against Grand Slam-chasing Wales in Cardiff on Saturday could yet sweep the title, though that would also require an England slip-up against Scotland at Twickenham.
Schmidt’s men finally showed the kind of form that elevated them above all comers in 2018, a year that comprised a Grand Slam and second victory over New Zealand.
FULL-TIME: @IrishRugby ensure that Joe Schmidt’s final #GuinnessSixNations home game finishes on a victorious note#IREvFRA pic.twitter.com/vN5W9fTI7y
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 10, 2019
Skipper Best marked his final Six Nations match in Dublin before his intended retirement at the end of the calendar year in style, with a try and another top performance.
Ireland’s 32-20 opening-weekend defeat to England leaves unbeaten Wales favourites for the Grand Slam at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, and the English ought to see off the Scots.
But this commanding Irish victory at least sets up an intriguing final-weekend clash, as Schmidt’s side look to lay down a marker for the autumn’s World Cup.
Ireland’s blistering start yielded a rapid try for Best, the skipper ploughing over after a penalty lineout and Sexton converting for a 7-0 lead.
Garry Ringrose’s astute kick in behind forced France to concede a five-metre lineout, then Arthur Iturria’s cheap penalty gifted the hosts another kick to the corner.
A try that's straight off @IrishRugby's training ground ?#IREvFRA #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/QFdRS0P21Y
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 10, 2019
From the second set-piece Best drove over in the corner, to settle any early nerves.
Ireland were handed a reprieve when wing Damian Penaud knocked on despite beating Jordan Larmour to a high bomb, with Thomas Ramos’ resulting finish chalked off.
But after that, the half proved one-way traffic, Ireland spending the middle third creating then bungling any number of scoring chances.
Finally Sexton ghosted home on a simple midfield wraparound as the monumental home pressure told, the fly-half converting again.
The outstanding Ringrose almost bagged a near-immediate third, only to knock on in the act of grounding after a stunning high-ball field.
Undeterred though, again the relentless Irish pressed, punishing France’s slack alignment in the field’s central third with Conan stealing over on the right.
Hulking France prop Demba Bamba lost the ball horribly cheaply in contact, and Les Bleus paid the full price as replacement Conan nipped home.
France started the second half at pace but were in truth easily subdued again by the hosts.
And when Earls raced in for the bonus-point score, any remaining French resolve all-but evaporated.
Munster star Earls profited from yet another special move from head coach Schmidt, stepping into the lineout before fielding an inside ball from CJ Stander on the back peel.
That ruse was enough to flummox the French, with Earls storming clear and securing the five-point win.
Sexton posted the conversion for a 26-0 lead, in what proved his final act.
Schmidt replaced Sexton, Conor Murray and skipper Best, emptying his bench with next weekend’s final-round clash in Cardiff well in mind.
That the job was already considered complete against Les Bleus inside the hour speaks volumes about the lowly state of France’s Test rugby.
Dorian Aldegheri was sin-binned for scrum infringements as Ireland sustained the onslaught in the final quarter.
But with 14 men France finally troubled the scorers; Huget romping in before Chat capped a driving maul.
France had hoped their 27-10 win over Scotland might prove the start of something new, instead Jacques Brunel’s men simply suffered another false dawn.
Ireland meanwhile can head to Cardiff with confidence at least renewed in this World Cup year.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments