RUGBY SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP – IRELAND V FRANCE
POST-MATCH REACTION FROM KILDARE’S WILL CONNORS AND TADHG BEIRNE
By Daire Walsh
IT was a disappointing Saturday night in Paris for Kildare natives Will Connors and Tadhg Beirne, who were part of an Irish team that fell short against France in the final round of a truncated Six Nations campaign.
Andy Farrell’s charges entered the contest in Saint-Denis with a fighting chance of coming away with a fourth Championship title in seven seasons. Following England’s 34-5 victory over Italy, Ireland knew a win by at least six points (with at least one try) or seven points would be enough to see them finishing at the summit.
Despite the best efforts of Donadea’s Connors and Beirne at openside flanker and second row respectively, the visitors suffered a 35-27 defeat at the hands of a clinical Les Bleus.
“There’s a bit of a tough feeling among the group this morning. There is definitely a big lesson learned. At that level you have to take your opportunities when they come and they are few and far between especially against a quality side like France. It was tough now. Incredibly tough,” Connors remarked from the team hotel in Paris on Sunday.
Having earned player of the match on his try-scoring debut at home to Italy seven days earlier, Connors experienced the harsh realities of professional sport at Stade de France. Nevertheless, it has been a whirlwind introduction to the international scene and he can’t wait to sink his teeth into the Autumn Nations Cup over the coming weeks.
“Compared to last week it is a completely different feeling and that is test rugby with the swing of emotions. It’s an unbelievable opportunity to be part of this group. It’s been class. I’ve loved every minute of it. Thankfully we have more to build on from here.
“We can right our wrongs which is something you don’t usually get the chance to do after a Six Nations. From an individual perspective I’ve loved every minute of it and once you get a taste you just want to keep going back at it. If we could train again tomorrow we probably would, but at the end of the day we probably need to give our bodies time to recover.”
The morning after his 15th appearance in an Ireland jersey, Beirne was also put forward for media duty by the IRFU. From his point of view, the failure to seize on some golden try-scoring opportunities was the most deflating aspect of Saturday’s eight-point reversal.
“I think everyone is just gutted really. The feeling out there and after it was definitely that we could have easily won the game. I think a few moments and a few parts of the game just didn’t go our way. We made a lot of mistakes and against a side like France you can’t make mistakes,” Beirne conceded.
“They pounced on a lot of our loose ball and before we knew it, we were standing underneath our sticks, which unfortunately wasn’t good enough. It’s very disappointing this morning because there were moments in that game where we felt like we were on top and definitely could have capitalised, but we didn’t. That’s what is most disappointing.”
While Farrell has been head coach for just two of Beirne’s caps thus far, he was assistant to Joe Schmidt when the Eadestown man was handed his Test debut against Australia in June 2018. Knowing the former rugby league convert as he does, Beirne expects all facets of their display to be forensically investigated over the next few days.
“He makes his points very clear. Everything he says, everyone takes on the chin. The way he addresses the room is very good. He stays calm but he is very stern in what he says and very clear too. That’s all you can ask for in a coach, he won’t lose the rag and there’s not much point in losing the rag after a game like that either.
“As frustrating as it is for him, he can sense our frustration in the group. Over the next few days, he’s going to have to go through the game numerous times and it’s probably on Thursday or Friday that we’ll see the real side of where we went wrong,” Beirne concluded.