Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Behind the Lines Sportswriters discuss their careers and the work that inspires them. Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Ireland left empty-handed as early blitz denied by fierce French D Shaun Edwards’ fingerprints were all over a wonderful French effort. 8.37pm, 10 Mar 2025 Share options THE THIRD QUARTER was when things really got away from Ireland in the face of a stunning French flourish, but they’ll have big regrets about the first 20 minutes too. Ireland piled pressure onto France in that opening quarter but left empty-handed. It felt like Simon Easterby’s men were close to making a perfect start but France’s ability to hold them out during a lengthy defensive effort that was a major psychological blow. The defensive effort had Shaun Edwards’ fingerprints all over it. Having stepped in late for the injured James Lowe, Ireland right wing Calvin Nash gave his side an ideal injection of momentum with an aerial win just 30 seconds into the game. Romain Ntamack gets over Nash as the Irish wing chases a Jamison Gibson-Park box kick, but Nash’s determination sees him rip the ball clear of Ntamack as he comes to ground. Ireland swing the ball wide to the left before Sam Prendergast tries to roll a diagonal kick into touch in the French 22, only for the visitors to recover and clear. But Ireland are already on top as they counter off Thomas Ramos’ exit kick, Keenan switching with Nash only for the ball to then go to ground. Ireland are fortunate that Yoram Moefana throws a forward offload to Peato Mauvaka as the French counter but it’s an early Irish error as they miss a chance to make good gains. As Nash takes the switch pass from Keenan, we can see that Grégory Alldritt [yellow below] is isolated as the edge defender on France’s right. Jamie Osborne and Bundee Aki [red above] are retreating on that side for Ireland, while Dan Sheehan is also doing the same out of shot. France have fullback Ramos in the backfield out of shot too, but there’s certainly space for Ireland to explore. Nash runs at Alldritt [yellow below] to make him bite in, so the chance for Osborne, Aki, and Sheehan is obvious. Moefana [blue above] is working hard as the catch-up defender from the inside so will connect with Ramos if the ball goes to hand, but Ireland are numbers up. Unfortunately for them, Nash’s pass is up at Osborne’s head and he can’t hold the ball. Ireland get possession back as Moefana offloads forward though. They launch into their phase-play attack from a scrum free-kick before Antoine Dupont is caught offside. So just five minutes into the game, Ireland have a five-metre lineout on the left and the ideal platform from which to make an early statement. Ireland go to their maul and after an initial surge are warned by referee Angus Gardner that it’s been “stopped once” before another nudge forward. They’re still inching towards the French line when Gibson-Park cues hooker Dan Sheehan to break off to the left in a bid to finish. The Irish scrum-half identifies that Dupont [yellow below] is the only French player in the shortside. So Gibson-Park darts away from the maul and calls for Sheehan to break off, the hooker obliging. There’s a window for Sheehan to pass to Gibson-Park and give him a shot at finishing outside Dupont but the hooker backs himself to surge for the line. Sheehan is denied by a wonderful tackle by Thibaud Flament, with Dupont and Alldritt helping to finish it. As highlighted below, Flament is busy as part of the maul defence, while Alldritt is over on the far side of the maul. They react brilliantly to Sheehan breaking off, with Flament making a superb low tackle to stop the explosive Irish hooker from having a chance of finishing. Dupont is offside here, so Ireland get a penalty when the passage ends with Gibson-Park knocking on an offload attempt from Finlay Bealham. Sheehan looks to catch the French off guard by tapping the penalty without any of the usual set-up time for one of Ireland’s five-metre tap plays. Sheehan usually taps the ball on the ground but he does so out of his hands here in a bid to go quickly for the line, only to be stopped by a brilliant tackle by François Cros and Uini Atonio. Cros does an excellent job of dropping in low and getting a really firm wrap on Sheehan’s legs as he dives for the line, while Atonio kills the rest of Sheehan’s momentum up high. Ireland are still within touching distance and go for the kill on the next phase as Gibson-Park fizzes a pass across the face of Josh van der Flier [red below] and Peter O’Mahony [blue] to Doris. Van der Flier is the most obvious next ball-carrier for Ireland, with O’Mahony ready to latch on and drive him over the tryline. Alldritt [pink above] is among the French players to initially read it that way, but he swiftly has to adjust as Gibson-Park rips the pass wider to Doris. This means Doris is accelerating into an initial one-on-one against Paul Boudehent [yellow below], but Alldritt has a huge say in denying his opposite number. Watch below how Doris dominates the collision with Boudehent, bouncing him off, only for Alldritt to intelligently reach his right arm over the Irish skipper’s back, wrapping on Doris’ upper body, as he reaches his left under the ball and also swings his legs in underneath Doris. Alldritt knows he can’t knock Doris backwards so he looks to pull the Irish captain on top of himself, denying him the chance to dot the ball down. It’s a fantastic bit of defending from Alldritt to rescue his team. Andrew Porter might wonder if he could have got a latch onto Doris here to add additional ballast but that would have given France an earlier cue to be more wary of Doris as the prime threat. Boudehent is involved in holding Doris up but without Alldritt’s quick thinking, Ireland are scoring. France restart the game with a goal line drop-out and we see another new layer to the Irish set-piece play in this area. Doris carries back at France initially before Ireland set up as if to run their disguised inside pass play, only to attack to width instead. France react well to manage this Irish play but strong carries from van der Flier, Bundee Aki and Doris bring Ireland surging back up to within 15 metres of the French tryline. And yet, having won the gainline for three consecutive phases, Ireland’s attack suddenly loses shape. Gibson-Park has to hit the breakdown after Doris’ pick and snipe but that doesn’t explain the apparent lack of organisation for the next phase. Having entered the French 22, it’s time for the Irish forwards to bring ferocity and speed with their tight carrying but there are no obvious options on either side of the ruck. Porter [yellow] is flying solo on the left, with O’Mahony [blue] wider out. Over on the right, Sheehan holds width near the touchline as Joe McCarthy and van der Flier [red] move in towards the ball. Fullback Hugo Keenan has gone to fill in as scrum-half and Ireland probably just need to carry the ball here narrow to maintain tempo in their promising attack. Nash points forward, indicating to van der Flier and McCarthy to carry off Keenan, while Prendergast seems to do the same. But Keenan passes out the back of van der Flier to the Irish out-half. With the French defence in good condition, it’s probably time for Prendergast to just tuck and carry himself, but he hesitates as he considers passing wide to Sheehan or short to Nash. That invites Moefana to bury him with a huge tackle. Advertisement France have driven Ireland back out of their 22 but in credit to Easterby’s men, they return just two phases later. Aki swings into the shortside to take Gibson-Park’s pass before slipping the ball to Nash, who offloads to Keenan, who in turn finds Aki with a second offload. But Alldritt has another say at the ensuing breakdown. Watch below how he tackles Aki, stays on his feet, and instantly gets over the ball. Alldritt is shifted by a powerful McCarthy clearout but the French number eight does enough to force the ball to bobble out of Aki’s grasp, in turn making Gibson-Park rush his pass away. Alldritt’s effort breaks the Irish rhythm once again. Bealham has to stoop to collect Gibson-Park’s loose pass and he tips the ball onto the static Tadhg Beirne for a carry. Porter, just outside Beirne, also stops when the ball bobbles and he’s then late to the breakdown as French props Jean-Baptiste Gros and Atonio get Beirne to ground rapidly. Bealham is also delayed in arriving at the breakdown, so French lock Mickaël Guillard gets a clear shot at the ball. Guillard jackals and connects with the ball before Bealham and Porter arrive. With no momentum, the Irish props can’t budge Guillard and he earns the turnover penalty. Still only eight minutes into the game, Irish frustration is already mounting yet they should finally take the lead after the next passage as Prendergast combines with Doris in a tackle on Mauvaka before the Irish captain jackals for a turnover penalty. It’s certainly no gimme from 40 metres out but it’s a miss Prendergast would have been frustrated with following all the early Irish pressure. Even three points would have been a relief after the earlier close calls. But France seem intent to keep defending in their 22 as Damian Penaud clears to touch only for Cros to give away a lineout penalty for grabbing McCarthy’s arm in the air. A nice Prendergast pass on penalty advantage sends Keenan on a side-stepping run, only for the fullback to lose the ball forward in Ntamack’s tackle. Returning to the penalty, Prendergast kicks Ireland back to within 10 metres as they go after the first try. They initially send McCarthy around the tail of the lineout for a surge at the French defence but Cros makes an excellent low tackle. Doris then bumps off Moefana only to be snaffled by a good Ntamack tackle. Ireland settle into a series of narrow carries close to the breakdown and are making progress, even if only inch by inch, when Gibson-Park decides to flash the ball wider. The Irish scrum-half is obviously looking to help Ireland find a finishing touch on eighth phase, with Nash lying in wait outside fullback Keenan. But French wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey has been well prepared by Edwards for a pass like this one, with Gibson-Park fizzing the ball across the face of Prendergast to find Keenan. Bielle-Biarrey doesn’t worry about Nash outside. He backs himself to stop the play, hammering Keenan ball-and-all. It’s one where Ireland might wonder if more patience was required. They were making progress, albeit in small increments and might feel they should have just stayed in that close-quarters fight. Ireland keep hold of the possession but France are buoyed and slowly drive Ireland back to square one. With momentum lost, the home side again look to hit width but Dupont and Penaud race up to shut that down. Again, the wider pass from Prendergast puts Keenan under huge pressure. It briefly looks like France have broken away for a counter-attack score but the TMO review shows that Dupont has knocked on in his tackle on Keenan. So once again, Ireland have a platform to attack from in the French 22. They make gains in the shortside on first phase but then essentially get completely shut out by the fierce French defence 10 metres from their own tryline. Crucially, Ireland lose speed of ball after three phases but Gardner believes it’s self-inflicted as Easterby’s men appeal for a penalty for Atonio not rolling away from a tackle. Having penalty advantage during 22 attack is huge because it means you can take more risk with your choice of pass or kick. In this instance, Sheehan and McCarthy pin Atonio in after his tackle on Bealham but Gardner says, “Ball’s available, ball’s available, you’re trapping him in.” It takes seven seconds for Ireland to clear the ball, allowing the French defence to get well set. Indeed, Franc are in control throughout this passage, making good decisions not to contest breakdowns, working hard to keep numbers on feet, and hitting in pairs. In the instance below, the French defence is already set as van der Flier is retreating with O’Mahony to get into position for a carry. This is a rare enough sight. Oftentimes, Ireland dictate terms in these battles in the trenches of the 22s. This time, France are dictating to Ireland. So it’s no surprise that France win the next collision, Guillard chipping in low as Flament hits van der Flier’s upper body. Even without a jackaler, France’s double tackle means Ireland aren’t getting quick ball. And on the next phase, Ireland crack under the French pressure. Prendergast [red below] steps in as first receiver with a pod of forwards [yellow] outside him, something that doesn’t happen too often in this position. Normally in the 22, forwards will play off nine, with occasional sweep passes out the back. An out-half linking to forwards often only adds to the pressure they face from the defence’s linespeed in the 22. We can see how Prendergast has to set up deep to give himself time to pick a pass, something that only invites further aggression from the already well-set French defence. Lo and behold, Prendergast’s short pass is knocked on by Bealham who is under pressure with Atonio and Ntamack in front of him. 50 seconds after Ireland played away from their scrum, France have another huge defensive win. France kick clear through Ramos, who finds grass in the backfield as Ireland scramble to cover after the turnover. Nash gathers the ball and with very little on, all of his team but Keenan ahead of him, accelerates upfield in a bid to make back ground. Getting to the French 10-metre line is a key target for Nash and he gets there with a slaloming run inside the chasing Boudehent, who has to stretch to tackle as he collides with Porter. Guillard and Gros also contribute to getting Nash to ground quickly, opening the door for the hovering Cros to jackal. Gros does a good job here having helped to pull Nash down to the ground. He steps forward into Porter’s path to the breakdown, impeding him from getting there. This can sometimes be picked up by match officials as obstruction, but it happens quickly here and is subtly and cleverly done by Gros. Porter’s lack of access means that the retreating Aki now has to be ultra-impactful in a one-on-one situation with the jackaling Cros. But Aki can’t generate any power into his clearout. He’s not helped by Guillard’s positioning on Ireland’s side of the breakdown but Cros is solid over the ball and has got himself into a strong stance by the time Porter joins the fray. Gardner signals the penalty for Nash holding on the ball. And so, with 15 minutes gone Ireland have nothing to show for their early blitz of possession and territory. France kick to touch in Ireland’s half and McCarthy is sin-binned a few minutes later as les Bleus turn the tables to pressure Easterby’s men. The visitors nudge that penalty into the left corner and from their first set-piece in Ireland’s 22, they strike clinically to score on first phase through Bielle-Biarrey. It’s a sickening blow for Ireland after a first quarter that leaves them with a few regrets. Murray Kinsella Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “Ireland left empty-handed as early blitz denied by fierce French D”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “Ireland left empty-handed as early blitz denied by fierce French D”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. 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