Questions asked but France moves closer to Six Nations title
France is closing on the Six Nations title after a big win over Ireland which was overshadowed by an injury to captain Antoine Dupont. But questions are again being asked about previous performances.
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Two teams well ahead of any other opponents in the Six Nations fought a fitting battle. They have the power and also the skills that none of the other four teams remotely possess.
But in the end, it was France who asserted themselves well above Ireland; it is France who will take the title provided that they beat Scotland in Paris in the last game of the season.
It was a classic in many areas, but the second half was so dominated by French power and French flair that Ireland were overwhelmed.
They did well to stay in the contest so that they could score two rather soft tries at the end, but to have come any closer than that would have been a travesty.
And the questions have to be asked yet again. How on this earth did France manage to lose to England, who across the season were not on the same planet? And how did France not manage to reach at least the final of the 2023 World Cup? This team are touched by greatness, and on their day are one of the great Six Nations teams.
We gathered to pay homage to the remarkable Antoine Dupont, the France captain and darling. But Dupont took a heavy knock in the 28th minute, in an incident involving Tadhg Beirne, which could gain the attention of the disciplinary panel. But after the great scrum half departed, it is fair to say that France hardly noticed because Maxime Lucu, his replacement, came on and played quite beautifully. It is possible to argue that his service is even quicker than that of Dupont and he scored a try at a key stage after Ireland had opened the second half with a try to lead.
And even without Dupont, the game threw up another potential superstar. Louis Bielle-Biarrey, the wing from Bordeaux, had scored in all seven of his previous matches and here he contributed two dazzling tries; he was like a box of fireworks every time he was given the ball.
France also secured their winning margin when their massive pack was reinforced by their massive bench, so that the likes of Uini Atonio was replaced by a similar sized beast in Emmanuel Meafou.
France brought a Shaun Edwards defence, reminding us that Edwards is still one of the great coaches, and it will be staggering if Scotland can do anything to stop the Gallic march.
Yet not the least of the French strengths was their ability to absorb an early burst of rampaging attacks from Ireland, in which Sam Prendergast and company kept hammering away, threatening to rush France out of the game.
But the French defence under pressure early on was amazingly good and by half-time Ireland had only managed one penalty, whereas France established themselves with a massive pressure platform, and Dupont went whizzing to the blind side just before his injury for Bielle-Biarrey to score down the left.
It was 8-6 at half-time to France, although Ireland would have mourned that they went for forward drives from the lineout on four occasions yet were held out easily.
But early in the half, the nation was given hope when Dan Sheehan came peeling off a maul to score and it was 13-8.
But instead of touching off a major Irish revival, we discovered that that was that for the boys in green. France had so much power and so many weapons, they played it beautifully tactically.
The Lucu try that brought the scores draw level came after Jean-Baptiste Gros and Lucu had conspired and Lucu’s determination brought the try.
Soon after that came the jewel moment. France won the ball round the right, spun it across the field where Damian Penaud accelerated smoothly, and outside him, Bielle-Biarrey took the ball up to the defence, chipped cleverly and reached the ball first to score.
And it became something of a French flood after that. Thomas Ramos kicked a penalty and the highly promising young replacement Oscar Jegou scored after a battering series of French drives.
It was the fourth French try and therefore gave them the bonus point that their championship aspirations needed.
Ireland kept on attacking, to their credit, but an interception by Ramos, picking off a Prendergast pass almost on the French line, ended every hope, as the great Penaud took the pass from his full back and motored down to the opposite end to score. Talk about the cherry on top.
Ireland did have their moments after that, even though the French score was in the 40s. They launched a drive from close range and the veteran and retiring Cian Healy managed to force his way over. It was a wonderful way for him to mark the end of his career on home soil and there was a semblance of order restored to the scoreboard when Jack Conan scored afterwards.
But it had all been a thunderous statement of French intent. For Ireland, it was bitterly disappointing in more ways than one.
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Originally published as Questions asked but France moves closer to Six Nations title
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