The facts speak for themselves. From an attacking perspective, France finished top points scorers 218 points (Ireland finished with 135) and top try scorers with 30, five more than second-placed England and a whopping 13 more than Ireland in third, proving the most complete attacking unit in the championship. Defensively they also reigned supreme. No wonder famed defensive guru Shaun Edwards was purring when interviewed after the Scotland game on Saturday night. Traditionally sharp in attack, for a French side to top the defensive charts was also a major statement. With the lowest points and fewest tries conceded on 93 and 13 respectively - Ireland leaked 117 points and 14 tries - France dominated on both sides of the ball. Ireland’s performances in defence were pretty decent, which only serves to highlight the two major areas of decline, namely, a faltering attack and a worrying deterioration on the disciplinary front. Dublin airport was chaotic on Friday morning with some 6,000 passengers destined for Rome. With thousands more heading to Cheltenham, the mood, despite the carnage, remained up beat and exciting. Incredibly there were in excess of 25,000 Irish fans inside the Stadio Olimpico. A Grand Slam may not have been on offer for Simon Easterby’s men or, for that matter, anyone else in what’s proved a highly competitive championship. The tournament has been so keenly fought, any one of Ireland, England and France, in theory at least, were still in a position to lift ultimate honours at the conclusion of matters on Saturday. That said, anything other than a French win would have amounted to a major shock in my book. Given the quality of the side Ireland were able to field in Rome, with Mack Hansen, James Lowe and Tadhg Furlong all recovered from injury and Garry Ringrose having served his reduced suspension due to his attendance at tackle school last week, Ireland were better served in attack and as close to full strength as you could hope for at the conclusion of such a physically demanding campaign. What I hadn’t adequately catered for in advance of Saturday’s final game was the impact of that crushing defeat to France and the psychological damage it appears to have inflicted. To this point, Ireland have been excellent at parking disappointments and setbacks by resetting the clock. Just think back to the clinical performance delivered in the opening Six Nations game against France in Marseille a few months after crashing out of the 2023 World Cup in Paris by such a narrow margin to New Zealand. Ireland were superb that night in the south of France in a highly convincing 17-38 win which laid the foundation for a second Six Nations title in a row. That night also launched the post Johnny Sexton era for Irish rugby with Jack Crowley delivering a highly accomplished display in a thoroughly deserved win. Of all the six changes to the side that came up short against the French last time out, the one that created most interest and column inches was the return to arms of Crowley, starting at out half for the first time in this season’s Six Nations. Coming as it did on the back of a potential move out of Munster to the Gallagher Premiership with Leicester Tigers, the pressure on the young Cork man was immense. That intense focus appeared to manifest itself off the kicking tee with a return of just one conversion from the four tries Ireland scored. For such an experienced team - the starting side had an average age of 29.7 years - Ireland looked a pale shadow of the side that has delivered so many outstanding performances over the last few seasons. Think back only eight months to that incredible win over world champions South Africa in Durban, courtesy of two brilliant late drop goals from Ciaran Frawley, and you wonder where the belief and self-assurance to close out such a tight game in the highly intimidating surrounds of Kings Park has gone. The fact that replacement No 10 Sam Prendergast was compelled to kick out off a tapped penalty to call a halt on proceedings at the death, with Ireland protecting a vulnerable five-point lead, encapsulated the position Ireland found themselves at the conclusion of a campaign that, after those early successes, had everyone talking about the possibility of winning three Six Nations titles in a row for the first time in history. The reality of the situation is that, had Italy not completely imploded on the disciplinary front, Ireland could well have lost this game. All four of Ireland’s tries were scored at a time when the Italians were reduced to 14 men. The yellow card conceded by recent captain Michele Lamaro two minutes before the break, at a time when the host’s led 10-7, made Joe McCarthy’s yellow card against France look almost acceptable. By the time he returned, Ireland had seized control to lead 10-17. Then, despite having Ross Vintcent sent off for a reckless head high tackle on Hugo Keenan just as Lamaro rejoined the fray, somehow Italy still found themselves within five points of Ireland entering the last 15 minutes. With Toulouse flyer Ange Capuozzo capable of scoring from any broken-field opportunities, the pressure was really on Ireland to close this one out. I’m sure the departing Peter O'Mahony might even have found a strange irony in the fact that his last involvement on the international stage came with an opposition player trying to decapitate him at a ruck given the Munster great has spent well over a decade getting under their skin of all opponents. Italy’s final act of self implosion came with replacement hooker Giacomo Nicotera, operating in the back row at that stage, leading with a shoulder to O'Mahony’s head before receiving a red card referral. That crass offence perfectly encapsulated Italy’s day. At least O'Mahony - what a reception he received from the massive Irish crowd when introduced for Josh van der Flier on the 52nd minute - and Conor Murray were afforded the chance to finish their international careers on the field of play with a win to bookend their remarkable contributions to Irish rugby. Despite losing just one game, to eventual champions France, nobody can afford to paper over the worrying cracks that have come to the fore over the last seven weeks. The fact that Ireland’s U20 side finished bottom of the log with a wooden spoon in their Six Nations sends a stark message that we have no divine right to sit at the top table with the big three from New Zealand, France and South Africa, something we’ve managed to achieve for a number of recent seasons. With just over two years to the next World Cup in Australia, the time has come for a serious review of this tournament as a whole with an equally critical eye cast on a worrying decline in the state of affairs in three of our four provinces.