RUGBY
Disappointing weekend for Irish teams in France
By Daire Walsh
FOLLOWING their disappointing defeat to France in Paris on Saturday afternoon, Ireland’s Six Nations title aspirations for 2016 have all but come to an end.
In spite of the underwhelming nature of their World Cup quarter-final exit last Autumn, there was some hope that Ireland could claim their third consecutive Championship crown under Joe Schmidt.
However, a failure to make their possession count to a greater degree in the opening period ultimately cost the visitors, as a second-half try from full-back Maxime Medard propelled France towards a 10-9 victory.
Following an impressive display against the Welsh, Naas’ Jamie Heaslip was once again selected in the back-row, and despite being left out of the squad for their Six Nations opener, Fergus McFadden of Suncroft was parachuted onto the replacements bench.
Indeed, thanks to an injury sustained by Dave Kearney, McFadden was introduced prior to the interval, but even though Jonathan Sexton contributed three penalties, Ireland’s interval cushion could have been even greater than 9-3.
The longer the play progressed, the more confident their French counterparts became, and after Guy Noves’ charges secured a series of scrums inside the Irish ’22’ during the final-quarter, Medard eventually broke free for the game’s pivotal score.
It was a frustrating weekend overall for Irish teams in the Six Nations, with the Under-20s and Women’s sides also suffering reversals at the hands of Les Bleus. With Peter Claffey and James Ryan touching down in the opening half at Narbonne on Friday, Nigel Carolan’s underage outfit were just four points in arrears (17-13) at the mid-way point.
Newbridge College graduate Jimmy O’Brien was once again selected at outside centre for the Under-20s, but a stunning second-half showing helped France to record a comprehensive 34-13 success.
The women’s team also endured a difficult night in Perpignan on Saturday, when Tom Tierney’s squad came off second best to an excellent French side.
There was no lack of endeavour from Ireland throughout the course of the proceedings, but following a brace of early tries, France had a very strong platform to build on.
A six-point salvo from Niamh Briggs kept Ireland (who once again featured Kildare native Aine Donnelly in defence) within touching distance at the break, but although they came close on a number of occasions after the restart, the defending champions ultimately succumbed to an 18-6 loss.
There was greater joy for Leinster in the Guinness Pro12 on Friday, though, as Leo Cullen’s men returned to winning ways with a facile 52-0 triumph over Zebre. This was a landmark game for Kill’s Adam Byrne, who registered his first-ever try at senior level for the province.
His fellow Lilywhite, James Tracy, produced the spade work for this score, and with Hayden Triggs, Isa Nacewa and Luke McGrath also crossing over, Leinster held an insurmountable 26-0 advantage on 40 minutes.
Further tries arrived through Jordi Murphy, Sean Cronin, Garry Ringrose and Cian Kelleher upon the resumption, and Leinster are now just one point off current pace-setters Ulster with a game in hand.