Rugby

France savour their victory as Ireland’s character put to the test

First win for Les Bleus at Aviva in a decade leaves Andy Farrell’s side out of the running

Ireland’s Iain Henderson and Ross Byrne in action at the Guinness Six Nations second round match between Ireland and France at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho

Gerry Thornley's face
Gerry Thornley
Sun Feb 14 2021 - 21:37

About five minutes after the full-time whistle, the entire French squad of players remained on the Aviva Stadium pitch underneath the west stand to celebrate their first win over Ireland at this venue in a decade.

Suddenly they cheered and hollered loudly. Well, with only a few ground staff and a reduced, socially distant media to witness it, it seemed loud anyway. As with the pre-match La Marseillaise reverberating around the Aviva echo chamber, this was another example the new abnormal.

France's 15-13 win left them atop the 2021 Guinness Six Nations with two wins from two, and Ireland stranded in fifth place after losing their first two championship games for the first time since 1998.

A second losing bonus point was scant consolation. Ireland are now out of the title running.

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“Our approach and our attitude doesn’t change,” maintained Ireland head coach Andy Farrell afterwards. “I just said to the boys in the changing rooms there that we talk about the strength of the group and how close they are; we will see how strong we are now because we will show our true character now.”

Last week, disturbingly, three Irish players left the field to undergo head injury assessments (HIA). As a consequence, talisman Johnny Sexton, as well as his heir apparent as captain, James Ryan, missed Sunday’s game.

Early in the second half, Sexton’s replacement Billy Burns, the new captain Iain Henderson, and Cian Healy all departed for HIAs. Burns didn’t return, whereas Henderson and Healy eventually did.

Rallied

Ireland then rallied from a 15-3 deficit but, hard though they tried, there was to be no repeat of the miracle at the Stade de France in 2018 when Sexton’s famous drop goal ignited the Grand Slam. Heady, long away days indeed.

“All the cliches spring to mind and they’re genuine,” said Henderson afterwards of his bittersweet day. “To captain the guys, they’re such a great bunch of lads. To represent them, all the backroom staff, the coaches, was massive for me and my family. A proud moment. Gutted we didn’t get the result but it will definitely go down in the memory as one of my proudest Irish caps.”

The French head coach Fabien Galthié hailed a famous win.

“These matches are always a lot of emotions, especially when it ends positively. We relax a bit and we think about the essential things, in particular our sport, our state of mind to transmit the good energy to the viewers, to the lovers of our sport in the current circumstances. We try to make sense of what we do and it is true that we are moved.”

Les Bleus are the coming team of world rugby. Seeking a first grand chelem since 2010, perhaps they are about to arrive.

Six Nations