Following a 42-27 victory for France over Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, here are our winners and losers from the Six Nations clash.
Winners
Fabien Galthie
It was a bold move to go with the 7-1 split but it ultimately paid off as France dominated the second half, thanks in part to the fresh legs. The decision perhaps even helped in the first half too with the starters knowing that they could empty the tank. Their defensive effort, particularly from the forwards, was heroic in the first quarter as they kept Ireland scoreless.
Galthie has had his critics within France this season, and some it is deserved given their lack of silverware, but his decision-making has given them an excellent shot of winning the 2025 Six Nations. If they do indeed beat Scotland next weekend, it will go some way to this squad achieving its potential.
Le Bomb Squad
As mentioned, Les Bleus used the Springboks-inspired tactic and they were all magnificent coming on in the second period. It was not smooth sailing following the departure through injury of Antoine Dupont and Pierre-Louis Barassi, but ultimately the extra power did its job after the break.
Emmanuel Meafou’s hulking presence was particularly useful as Irish bodies tired, while Julien Marchand and Anthony Jelonch were absolutely everywhere. We love innovation, and France and South Africa deserved to be praised for taking this risk.
Maxime Lucu
No doubt French fans everywhere were worried when their talisman went off injured, but they need not have worried as Lucu was utterly superb. It shouldn’t really be an issue as the Bordeaux-Begles scrum-half is a magnificent player, but pretty much everything in that France game plan revolved around Dupont.
Previously, it has been an issue for Les Bleus when Dupont has not been playing but Lucu stepped up and completely dominated the game when he came on. The experienced half-back’s decision-making was superb, while his accuracy in both pass and kick was elite.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey
The youngster is some player isn’t he? Only 21 but he is already one of the best wingers in the game. He has become the master of the chip and charge and it caused all sorts of problems for Ireland on Saturday. Bielle-Biarrey is so accurate with it and it helped him to complete his brace.
The flyer was an absolute menace with ball in hand but he was also excellent defensively. It is an underrated part of his game as Bielle-Biarrey made some outstanding reads when Ireland attacked, especially in that difficult first 20 minutes.
Oscar Jegou
It was always a risk going with the 7-1 and there might have been concern when they lost Barassi to a head injury, forcing the young back-rower to go into centre, but Jegou handled the task brilliantly as their defence, with the exception of the final five minutes, stood firm.
Jegou also made a big impact at close quarters, which was shown by his well-taken try, as France won the gain line in the second half. The La Rochelle forward is only 21 and looks like he will be part of the French squad for years to come.
England and the Six Nations
Steve Borthwick’s men will certainly be delighted as their title hopes remained alive after France’s dominant win. It is still a long shot but, should the Red Rose beat Italy with a bonus-point, then they will go above Ireland in the table and be just one point behind Les Bleus going into the final round. Of course, Galthie’s men are heavy favourites going into Super Saturday, but the English are still alive in the competition.
It is also great that the Six Nations goes into the final weekend, although Ireland fans will disagree. While it would have likely been still on the line, Simon Easterby’s men only had a match against Italy, which is the first game next Saturday. It would have made for a damp squib. However, that encounter at the Stade de France, which is the final clash of the tournament, will ultimately decide the winner.
Losers
Ireland
While the unprecedented Six Nations three-peat is still within their grasp, it will not be done in a Grand Slam fashion as Ireland crashed to comprehensive defeat. Frankly, the scoreboard flattered the hosts who were completely outplayed in the second half of the match.
Joe McCarthy’s yellow card, more on that later, gave France a much-needed boost in the first half after Ireland’s relentless passage of attack. The second yellow card early in the second half only made matters worse and from there it was one-way traffic.
There are undoubtedly nuances to this defeat with the likes of Tadhg Furlong, James Lowe, and Garry Ringrose all being absent, certainly not helping the cause, but the best teams in the world back their depth and cannot really use it as an excuse.
Sam Prendergast
Frankly put, it was his worst outing in an Ireland jersey so far. Sam Prendergast is clearly a gifted player and one who will play bucket loads more for his country at the highest level, but today was not his day and Ireland paid dearly as their decision to go with a 6-2 split blew up in their face as Bundee Aki would always need to be replaced.
There were some good moments in the first period and he looked composed but, under pressure, the 22-year-old crumbled. As France started to make headway into the Irish on both sides of the ball, he made a number of rash decisions. It was a huge learning curve for Prendergast.
Retiring legends
It was very sad that three greats of the Irish game – Peter O’Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray – did not get the home send-off they would have wanted. Last week it was announced that they would be retiring from Test duty after the Six Nations and no doubt it would have been an emotional driver against France, but it ultimately ended in disappointment.
It certainly won’t detract from what they have achieved for their country, but the result did slightly dampen the celebrations. O’Mahony, Healy and Murray still have a chance to finish on a high, however, when Ireland face Italy in Rome in the final round.
Antoine Dupont
We very much hope his injury is not as serious as it looked. The wonderful playmaker started the game well and was just beginning to find his rhythm in attack when he went off with a nasty-looking knee injury. It came after Tadhg Beirne landed on him and, to be honest, we were surprised that it was not looked at by the television match official.
As a result, Dupont could be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, which would be a huge shame for the sport as he is this generation’s best player.
Joe McCarthy and Calvin Nash
Both were yellow carded in this match and they were costly as France took advantage of the times Ireland went down to 14 men. It is perhaps harsh to lump Nash in with McCarthy, whose decision to pull back Thomas Ramos was utterly stupid, but it was still bad technique from the winger in the tackle.
It wasn’t just their sin-binnings which blotted the copybook, though, as both players struggled to impose themselves in the match. There was the odd big carry from McCarthy but he was otherwise quiet, which has rather summed up his Six Nations. The lock has not been poor by any means, but he certainly hasn’t been as influential as last year.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/ireland-v-france-winners-and-losers-fabien-galthies-bold-decision-saves-six-nations-from-damp-squib-as-irelands-great-hope-produces-worst-outing
