Video: Ireland draw little comfort
France produce final quarter fightback to deny Declan Kidney’s team
Ireland 13 - 13 France
Six Nations Championship
Ireland's Paddy Jackson kicks a penalty
Jamie Heaslip of Ireland scores Ireland’s try in the first half. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Ireland initially turned things round at the scrum - Jackson's long range effort fell just short - but the visitors regained the ascendancy and Parra, taking over the kicking landed a penalty to reduce the deficit to 13-6.
Ireland were running out of steam, the physicality of the context exacting a greater toll with every hit. The French had a bench that made an impact - the one exception is Philippe Saint Andre's failure to use Trinh Duc - while Irish replacements were liberated largely down to injury. It effectively meant that some of the home pack was running on fumes in those final 10 minutes. Ian Madigan's debut was down to injury, Stephen Archer didn't get on; Iain Henderson was given three minutes.
Saint Andre's willingness to bolster his team with fresh legs meant that France were able to finish strongly and it rescued the draw. In contrast Ireland staggered to the line, battered and exhausted. The Ireland team will once again reflect of what might have been as victory slipped through their fingers. The integrity of their effort didn't suffice and now they must haul their tired limbs, for those still intact, towards another monumental clash in Rome next weekend.
Scoring sequence
13 mins: Heaslip try, Jackson conversion, 7-0; 26 mins: Michalak penalty, 7-3; 28 mins: Jackson penalty, 10-3; 31 mins: Jackson penalty, 13-3. Half-time: 13-3. 53 mins: Parra penalty, 13-6; 73 mins: Picamoles try, Michalak conversion, 13-13.
Ireland: R Kearney (Leinster); F McFadden (Leinster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster), L Marshall (Ulster), K Earls (Munster); P Jackson (Ulster), C Murray (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Leinster); M McCarthy (Connacht), D Ryan (Munster); P O'Mahony (Munster), S O'Brien (Leinster), J Heaslip (Leinster, capt). Replacements: L Fitzgerald (Leinster) for McFadden 62 mins; E Reddan (Leinster) for Murray 62 mins; D O'Callaghan (Munster) for Ryan 67 mins; Murray for O'Driscoll 71-75 mins; I Madigan (Leinster) for Marshall 71 mins; I Henderson (Ulster) for O'Mahony 76 mins; S Cronin (Leinster) for Reddan 79 mins.
France: Y Huget (Toulouse); V Clerc (Toulouse), F Fritz (Toulouse), W Fofana (Clermont Auvergne), M Medard (Toulouse); F Michalak (Toulon), M Parra (Clermont Auvergne); T Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), B Kayser (Clermont Auvergne), N Mas (Perpignan); C Samson (Castres), Y Maestri (Toulouse); Y Nyanga (Toulouse), T Dusautoir (Toulouse, capt), L Picamoles (Toulouse). Replacements: S Vahaamahina (Perpignan) for Maestri 50 mins; M Bastareaud (Toulon) for Fritz 51-57 and 67 mins; V Debaty (Clermont Auvergne) for Domingo 65 mins; A Claassen (Castres) for Nyanga 65 mins; G Guirado (Perpignan) for Kayser 67 mins.
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia).
