Shaun Edwards calls France's dominance over Ireland 'very, very unusual'

Shaun Edwards appeared taken aback by the dominance his France outfit achieved in periods of their Six Nations-opening win over Ireland in Paris, labelling the trends of the game “very unusual” shortly after the final whistle.

Edwards reacted to his team’s win by saying France flipped the script on Andy Farrell’s side, beating Ireland at their own game for large periods in the contest.

The defence coach was full of praise for his team’s attack, particularly in the first half, when France ran out to a 22-0 lead, which was extended to 29-0 in the second half before Ireland found their feet in the contest and got some points on the board.

“There was (some scintillating rugby played). I thought our attack in the first half was fantastic,” Edwards said on the match broadcast.

“Something Ireland normally does is they dominate possession, they dominate territory. But we did it to them, which was very, very unusual.”

Edwards credited France’s big men in the pack for getting the team on the front foot and putting Ireland under the pump.

“I don’t think (Ireland were lacklustre), I think it was just the quality of the attack they were having to deal with that was the problem for them.

“You’ve got to remember we’ve got some big, powerful units who carry the ball very, very hard. So I can totally understand why it may have looked like they were under pressure, because our attack was marvellous, I thought.”

France’s head coach Fabien Galthié made headlines with his Six Nations squad announcement, omitting household names like Damian Penaud, Gaël Fickou, and Gregory Alldritt, all controversial decisions that clearly haven’t held the team back.

Edwards was sure to stress that the omissions are not permanent, although the new talent coming through the ranks has repaid the faith shown in them.

“The older players, they can always fight their way back in,” he said. “You’ve got to remember that. They’re not gone forever.

“When the new guys came in, I told you they were fast. I told everyone before the game that they were very quick, and I think they showed that, particularly in the first half. The second half, I thought Ireland dominated, and it was much more like an Irish game where they were dominating possession and dominating territory.”