IN A SMALL room underneath the Stade Ernest-Wallon in Toulouse, Lucy Mulhall emerges sporting a large shiner above her left eye. She wasn’t the only one left battered and bruised after a testing encounter for Ireland in the south of France, the visitors shipping 40 points to a classy French side in front of a crowd of almost 12,000 supporters.

“It was as tough as what we expected but as good as they were, we didn’t really show up and that’s the frustrating part,” Mulhall admitted.

“We wanted to throw a few punches. We came here believing we could win but we just let them get on top of us too much. If you give a French team that much possession, they are always going to come out on top.”

Ireland’s shortcomings were there for all to see, with their skills and set-piece work letting them down and killing any opportunity to build some momentum against a finely-tuned France side who boast a number of world class players in their ranks.

“It’s the kind of stuff we do day-in-day-out in training. I know I let myself down on very basic skills,” Mulhall continued.

I don’t think it’s down to nerves. We had a sharp warm-up. We just handed them the ball back far too many times and you can’t really live against the French with those sort of errors.

“We definitely got punished for over-playing in our own half. But we were so starved of possession, it was kind of wanting to get on the ball and get the likes the Beibhinn (Parsons) a chance.

“It’s pleasing to see what we can do when we do have the ball, it’s just that we have to respect possession and hold on to it.”

Mulhall is tackled by France's Maelle Filopon. Dave Winter / INPHO Dave Winter / INPHO / INPHO

Ireland knew they would be fighting an uphill battle in France, but that won’t make the manner of the defeat any less painful for Greg McWilliams’ squad, who are at the start of a major rebuilding project after a horrible end to their 2021 season and the loss of a handful of key senior players to retirement.

Mulhall has shone for Ireland on the Sevens circuit but like many of her teammates, she is still finding her feet at Test level. The France game saw the Leinster winger win just her third cap for the Ireland 15s. The starting team contained nine players with less than 10 caps to their name.

This new-look team could do with a positive result, and Sunday’s clash against an Italian side who lost 74-0 to England looks a golden opportunity to secure the first win of the McWilliams era.

As much as we are all aware that there is a long journey ahead for this team and the management, every time we put on a green jersey, that’s what matters the most.

“It’s about trying to put in a performance that lives up to the jersey.

“We wanted to do the simple things well and that’s what really let us down. If we can tidy those things up, I think we can achieve in the short-term while still having long-term goals.

Mulhall reacts to a France try. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

“It’s a very expansive way to play and I think that plays to our strengths. You see the try last week with Sam’s (Monaghan) offload to Linda (Djoungang). They are the sort of players that we have.

“It’s about striking the right balance between respecting possession in the right areas of the field and then playing that exciting brand of rugby.

“That’s where we want to get to as a team. I think there are a lot of things (from the France game) that are very quick fixes. If we can just turn them around this week, I think it’s really exciting going into the Italy game.” 

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