Winners shape the post-match narrative while losers get to wade through the uninvited slew of peer reviews, an unsparing critique rooted in absolutism and heavy on the “where-it-all-went-wrong” model that apportions blame. The manner of Ireland’s defeat to France at the Aviva Stadium was disappointing and frustrating for coaches, players and supporters.
No one, least of all those on the receiving end, is trying to run away from the result. The consensus in much of the analysis was that Ireland could not cope with the power and size of the visitors when they upped the tempo for half an hour after the interval, scoring 24 points in 12 minutes and 34 unanswered points before Ireland’s late two-try salvo.
France’s 7-1 split on the bench was seen as a key differential in deciding the outcome, especially when freshening the pack with five new constituents in one go, again a reference to that alleged superior power base. However, it doesn’t quite tally when you drill beyond the superficial. The French had just one more forward on the bench, hardly an egregious advantage.
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Ireland have encountered an identical scenario before in beating South Africa, not exactly undersized, in a World Cup pool match at the Stade de France, and subsequently managed to draw the series against the Springboks 1-1 last summer.
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Ireland did not lose because France were bigger, it was because they were better
Time to crunch a few numbers. Sticking directly to a comparison with France, the visiting pack at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday was 26 kilograms lighter (928kg to 954kg), than the one Ireland faced in last season’s Six Nations game, in Marseilles, a match Andy Farrell’s side won 38-17. France secondrow Paul Willemse was sent off after 32-minutes in that game.
Last weekend Ireland won the majority of the collisions in the first quarter of the match, examples of which are legion from Finlay Bealham to Caelan Doris and several players in between. They got over the gain-line and spent much of the early part of the match ensconced in the French 22.
So, if Ireland had enough “va va voom” to survive and thrive in the physical stakes, why weren’t they able to score during that period, and how come France dipped their bread when afforded the same territorial access after the interval?
The short answer is in how the respective teams set up in attack in the opposition 22. Ireland played with vibrancy, fluency and width all the way up to the French 22, but the closer they got to the line, the slower they were to set up, or get into their shape if you prefer, and the narrower they got in orientation.
That allowed France to regroup a little when it came to goal line defence, gave them time to identify the next ball carrier and look for a double tackle. Ireland get held up over the line more often that they’d like, five times already in this Six Nations, but at their best they pummel away until the holes appear. Sometimes a top team just doesn’t give them that latitude; France didn’t.
Irish scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park is brilliant at sniffing out space, but he’s got to get a sharp buy-in from his team-mates. Ireland were half a step off on the day.
The quickest way to speed up your attacking patterns is to offload. France didn’t wait to get into shape in the Irish 22, they relied on the instinctive skills, good technique and habits of players to make prescient decisions once in behind the defence.
Ireland contributed to their own demise on the gain line, going too high, opting for choke tackles that ceded swathes of turf and momentum, and there were also straight-up missed tackles. France ensured the home team didn’t get a chance to realign in defence, by changing the point of attack, coming from depth and at speed; no waiting, just pop the ball up or offload.
Off quick ball, if the attacking side doesn’t devote time to realigning, it’s nearly impossible for the defence to do so. Fabien Galthié’s side were direct, but the decision-making was top class. As Ireland headed for the corner flag the visitors hit them up the guts.
France scored three tries while Ireland were a man short, two of them exploiting where Ireland were weakest. A lineout maul did the damage while Joe McCarthy was in the bin, and in the absence of Calvin Nash they exploited the space on the wing for Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s second try.
It seems unfair to point a finger and say that Ireland couldn’t cope with the rough and tumble at the Aviva Stadium. Ireland lost a match not because France were bigger, rather because they better on the day.
