IT WASN’T ALWAYS pretty, but a second 2017 Six Nations win for Joe Schmidt’s Ireland keeps them in the title hunt heading into the final two rounds of the championship.
Johnny Sexton was masterful on his return from injury, settling into the game early and growing as a force throughout before making way for Paddy Jackson in the 69th minute.
The 31-year-old out-half provided 11 of Ireland’s points, firing over a beautiful long-range drop-goal to add to his two penalties and the conversion of man of the match Conor Murray’s close-range try.
Sexton was in excellent form for Ireland. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
The scrum-half was even more impressive for Ireland, producing several sublime tactical kicks and sniping over for his score following a sharp carry by Robbie Henshaw and some excellent rucking work in front of him. Like Sexton, he thundered into his defensive duties.
But Schmidt would have been frustrated by much of Ireland’s first-half performance, as they failed to turn possession and territorial advantage into the tries they sought.
Captain Rory Best continually backed his side to convert further close-range opportunities, but the French were largely up to task at scrum and maul time, while a lack of ball security and poor breakdown work from Ireland was costly too.
With the rain falling heavily, the second half saw Ireland focus on stretching a lead that had stood at 7-6 at the break, and while the French did have adventurous moments with ball in hand, they didn’t manage to pose consistent danger to the Irish tryline.
Murray and Sexton led the Irish efforts, but there were impressive efforts from Garry Ringrose, Jamie Heaslip and others in a hard-working Irish performance.
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Soon after kick-off, Louis Picamoles served Ireland an early warning of his threat with an offload wide on the left, while Sexton showed understandable signs of rust with a kick out on the full as space beckoned in the French backfield.
Les Bleus were first off the mark, with Camille Lopez kicking a 12th-minute penalty, although Ireland were lucky it wasn’t seven points. Gael Fickou broke Ringrose’s tackle, before Kevin Gourdon beat Sean O’Brien and Baptiste Serin darted past Jack McGrath to the fringe of a ruck, then dancing around Rob Kearney in behind.
Lopez fired over two first-half penalties for France. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
With the French coming onto that superb attacking platform, Heaslip opted to kill the ball at the ruck and was rather fortunate not to be carded for a cynical decision.
Ireland’s error count rose in the aftermath of that penalty, with O’Brien losing the ball in contact in the French half and then Simon Zebo making a poor decision to attempt to keep the ball in play on a long Scott Spedding kick. The Ireland left wing only managed to provide the visitors with a five-metre scrum after he knocked the ball dead.
The French thought they had the first try of the game from the resulting set-piece – and following one scrum penalty.
Lopez fired a crossfield kick to Yoann Huget wide left, only for the Toulouse man to spill the ball in Ringrose’s tackle. Fickou gathered the loose ball and feed Remi Lamerat to dart over, but the TMO review showed that Fickou had knocked-on in the process.
Instead of a try, France came back to penalty advantage for Ireland’s backline being offside at the scrum and Lopez made it 6-0.
Ireland built pressure on Guy Novès’ side soon after but lost out to a scrum penalty five metres from the French tryline. Sexton’s influence was growing, however, and he chipped behind Huget after breaking on a loop play off Henshaw, forcing Huget to knock the ball back over his own line, where Noa Nakaitaci touched it down for an Ireland scrum.
One scrum penalty later, Ireland finally scored. Henshaw carried superbly on first phase, with Ringrose, O’Brien and Heaslip clearing out – the number eight creating space in front of the ball – and Murray sniped over for a 30th-minute try, converted by Sexton.
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
There was further frustration for Ireland as they doggedly pursued tries before the break, with the French first repelling a series of five-metre mauls from Ireland and forcing a turnover through Vahaamahina.
Sexton then sent Ringrose haring forward with a nice offload after a loop, allowing Murray to snipe and break to the left of a ruck, before Stander made a thundering carry. But Gourdon got a hand in on Murray and forced a knock-on as Ireland hammered away in the French 22, ensuring a 7-6 lead for Schmidt’s side at the break.
With the rain breaking back into play after the interval, Spedding dropped an early Sexton bomb to test his hands, and then France gave up a needless penalty for holding off the ball to allow Sexton to extend the Irish lead off the tee.
The Leinster man, continuing to grow as a force in the contest, smashed over a stunning 40-metre drop goal with penalty advantage being played in the 50th minute, then slotted another penalty when France flanker Gourdon broke his bind early at scrum time.
Ireland looked comfortable with the 16-6 advantage, but a madcap passage of play ensued in the 59th minute as Schmidt’s men first broke down the left, Zebo providing two classy touches, before McGrath knocked on in the France 22 and Spedding countered from deep.
His kick ahead was spilled by Zebo and suddenly opportunity beckoned for the French, but they couldn’t convert and le Roux knocked-on to give everyone a much-needed breather.
Sexton celebrates his brilliant drop goal. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Both benches were beginning to empty heading into the final quarter, and it was the French whose replacements had the greater impact initially, with Uini Atonio unsurprisingly prominent.
Nakaitaci’s influence grew too, as the game opened up and he countered dangerously after Ireland had again spilled the ball in the 22 soon after a beautiful grubber kick from Murray was followed up by the pack driving les Bleus into touch.
A neck roll on O’Brien ended the next French onslaught, which involved another alarming thrust from Nakaitaci. Somehow, a dangerous-looking tackle from replacement prop Cian Healy in that passage was not reviewed by Owens and TMO.
Sexton was replaced by Jackson on the 69-minute mark, but Toner’s indiscretion allowed Lopez to fire over a third penalty for the French, before Jackson was able to open his account off the tee with four minutes remaining.
Ireland finished the game camped in the visitors’ 22, but opted to kick the ball out as les Bleus defended with pride.
Ireland scorers:
Tries:Conor Murray
Conversions:Johnny Sexton [1 from 1]
Penalties:Johnny Sexton [2 from 2], Paddy Jackson [1 from 1]
Drop goal: Johnny Sexton
France scorers:
Penalties:Camille Lopez [3 from 3]
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (Andrew Trimble ’51); Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Simon Zebo; Johnny Sexton (Paddy Jackson ’69), Conor Murray (Kieran Marmion ’78); Jack McGrath (Cian Healy ’60), Rory Best (captain) (Niall Scannell ’68), Tadhg Furlong (John Ryan ’74); Donnacha Ryan (Iain Henderson ’60), Devin Toner; CJ Stander, Sean O’Brien (Peter O’Mahony ’68), Jamie Heaslip.
FRANCE: Scott Spedding (Djibril Camara ’74); Yoann Huget, Rémi Lamerat (Henry Chavancy ’60), Gael Fickou, Noa Nakaitaci; Camille Lopez, Baptiste Serin (Maxime Machenaud ’62); Cyril Baille (Eddy Ben Arous ’51), Guilhem Guirado (captain) (Christopher Tolofua ’62), Rabah Slimani (Uini Atonio ’51); Sébastian Vahaamahina (Julien Le Devedec ’51), Yohann Maestri; Bernard Le Roux (Charles Ollivon ’60), Kevin Gourdon, Louis Picamoles.
Murray and Sexton to the fore as Ireland keep Six Nations title bid alive
Ireland 19
France 9
Murray Kinsella reports from the Aviva Stadium
IT WASN’T ALWAYS pretty, but a second 2017 Six Nations win for Joe Schmidt’s Ireland keeps them in the title hunt heading into the final two rounds of the championship.
Johnny Sexton was masterful on his return from injury, settling into the game early and growing as a force throughout before making way for Paddy Jackson in the 69th minute.
The 31-year-old out-half provided 11 of Ireland’s points, firing over a beautiful long-range drop-goal to add to his two penalties and the conversion of man of the match Conor Murray’s close-range try.
The scrum-half was even more impressive for Ireland, producing several sublime tactical kicks and sniping over for his score following a sharp carry by Robbie Henshaw and some excellent rucking work in front of him. Like Sexton, he thundered into his defensive duties.
But Schmidt would have been frustrated by much of Ireland’s first-half performance, as they failed to turn possession and territorial advantage into the tries they sought.
Captain Rory Best continually backed his side to convert further close-range opportunities, but the French were largely up to task at scrum and maul time, while a lack of ball security and poor breakdown work from Ireland was costly too.
With the rain falling heavily, the second half saw Ireland focus on stretching a lead that had stood at 7-6 at the break, and while the French did have adventurous moments with ball in hand, they didn’t manage to pose consistent danger to the Irish tryline.
Murray and Sexton led the Irish efforts, but there were impressive efforts from Garry Ringrose, Jamie Heaslip and others in a hard-working Irish performance.
Soon after kick-off, Louis Picamoles served Ireland an early warning of his threat with an offload wide on the left, while Sexton showed understandable signs of rust with a kick out on the full as space beckoned in the French backfield.
Les Bleus were first off the mark, with Camille Lopez kicking a 12th-minute penalty, although Ireland were lucky it wasn’t seven points. Gael Fickou broke Ringrose’s tackle, before Kevin Gourdon beat Sean O’Brien and Baptiste Serin darted past Jack McGrath to the fringe of a ruck, then dancing around Rob Kearney in behind.
With the French coming onto that superb attacking platform, Heaslip opted to kill the ball at the ruck and was rather fortunate not to be carded for a cynical decision.
Ireland’s error count rose in the aftermath of that penalty, with O’Brien losing the ball in contact in the French half and then Simon Zebo making a poor decision to attempt to keep the ball in play on a long Scott Spedding kick. The Ireland left wing only managed to provide the visitors with a five-metre scrum after he knocked the ball dead.
The French thought they had the first try of the game from the resulting set-piece – and following one scrum penalty.
Lopez fired a crossfield kick to Yoann Huget wide left, only for the Toulouse man to spill the ball in Ringrose’s tackle. Fickou gathered the loose ball and feed Remi Lamerat to dart over, but the TMO review showed that Fickou had knocked-on in the process.
Instead of a try, France came back to penalty advantage for Ireland’s backline being offside at the scrum and Lopez made it 6-0.
Ireland built pressure on Guy Novès’ side soon after but lost out to a scrum penalty five metres from the French tryline. Sexton’s influence was growing, however, and he chipped behind Huget after breaking on a loop play off Henshaw, forcing Huget to knock the ball back over his own line, where Noa Nakaitaci touched it down for an Ireland scrum.
One scrum penalty later, Ireland finally scored. Henshaw carried superbly on first phase, with Ringrose, O’Brien and Heaslip clearing out – the number eight creating space in front of the ball – and Murray sniped over for a 30th-minute try, converted by Sexton.
There was further frustration for Ireland as they doggedly pursued tries before the break, with the French first repelling a series of five-metre mauls from Ireland and forcing a turnover through Vahaamahina.
Sexton then sent Ringrose haring forward with a nice offload after a loop, allowing Murray to snipe and break to the left of a ruck, before Stander made a thundering carry. But Gourdon got a hand in on Murray and forced a knock-on as Ireland hammered away in the French 22, ensuring a 7-6 lead for Schmidt’s side at the break.
With the rain breaking back into play after the interval, Spedding dropped an early Sexton bomb to test his hands, and then France gave up a needless penalty for holding off the ball to allow Sexton to extend the Irish lead off the tee.
The Leinster man, continuing to grow as a force in the contest, smashed over a stunning 40-metre drop goal with penalty advantage being played in the 50th minute, then slotted another penalty when France flanker Gourdon broke his bind early at scrum time.
Ireland looked comfortable with the 16-6 advantage, but a madcap passage of play ensued in the 59th minute as Schmidt’s men first broke down the left, Zebo providing two classy touches, before McGrath knocked on in the France 22 and Spedding countered from deep.
His kick ahead was spilled by Zebo and suddenly opportunity beckoned for the French, but they couldn’t convert and le Roux knocked-on to give everyone a much-needed breather.
Both benches were beginning to empty heading into the final quarter, and it was the French whose replacements had the greater impact initially, with Uini Atonio unsurprisingly prominent.
Nakaitaci’s influence grew too, as the game opened up and he countered dangerously after Ireland had again spilled the ball in the 22 soon after a beautiful grubber kick from Murray was followed up by the pack driving les Bleus into touch.
A neck roll on O’Brien ended the next French onslaught, which involved another alarming thrust from Nakaitaci. Somehow, a dangerous-looking tackle from replacement prop Cian Healy in that passage was not reviewed by Owens and TMO.
Sexton was replaced by Jackson on the 69-minute mark, but Toner’s indiscretion allowed Lopez to fire over a third penalty for the French, before Jackson was able to open his account off the tee with four minutes remaining.
Ireland finished the game camped in the visitors’ 22, but opted to kick the ball out as les Bleus defended with pride.
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (Andrew Trimble ’51); Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Simon Zebo; Johnny Sexton (Paddy Jackson ’69), Conor Murray (Kieran Marmion ’78); Jack McGrath (Cian Healy ’60), Rory Best (captain) (Niall Scannell ’68), Tadhg Furlong (John Ryan ’74); Donnacha Ryan (Iain Henderson ’60), Devin Toner; CJ Stander, Sean O’Brien (Peter O’Mahony ’68), Jamie Heaslip.
FRANCE: Scott Spedding (Djibril Camara ’74); Yoann Huget, Rémi Lamerat (Henry Chavancy ’60), Gael Fickou, Noa Nakaitaci; Camille Lopez, Baptiste Serin (Maxime Machenaud ’62); Cyril Baille (Eddy Ben Arous ’51), Guilhem Guirado (captain) (Christopher Tolofua ’62), Rabah Slimani (Uini Atonio ’51); Sébastian Vahaamahina (Julien Le Devedec ’51), Yohann Maestri; Bernard Le Roux (Charles Ollivon ’60), Kevin Gourdon, Louis Picamoles.
Referee: Nigel Owens [WRU].
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