Following a dramatic 15-13 win for Ireland over France in the Six Nations, here are five takeaways from the match at the Stade de France.
Ireland will take this and move on: It wasn’t pretty in the slightest and they won’t lift the Six Nations title playing in that kind of form, but Ireland won’t care about that tonight as they came out on top in this Paris dog fight. Performances can always be worked on and make no mistake they will be much better against Italy next weekend, with this victory showing the mark of a tough team. They won without playing well.
Guilhem Guirado led from the front: On the losing side but the France hooker and captain can hold his head high following this workmanlike shift. He made a whopping 28 tackles and seven carries for the cause. Guirado could not have done much more for his side but must swallow this loss and then lift his troops for their game against Scotland next weekend. A player undeserving of being on the wrong side of this result.
HIA controversy: This is worrying. Several TV replays showed France substitute Antoine Dupont clearly suffer a knee injury, but a French official informed referee Nigel Owens that the official match doctor said the scrum-half was off for a Head Injury Assessment, meaning Maxime Machenaud could return to the field. Owens, like the masses, was clearly perplexed and made sure to triple check the information.
France discipline awful: Penalties that did not need to be given away proved France’s undoing on Saturday. They were penalised 10 times – most of which could have been avoided – and in games decided by the smallest of margins like this one, it ultimately cost them the result.
James Ryan decision pays off: His inclusion ahead of Devin Toner in Ireland’s starting side raised a few eyebrows during the week but Joe Schmidt’s call proved the correct one as Ryan was excellent in Paris. He carried an impressive 15 times while in defence he made 10 tackles. Just 21 years of age, his combination with Iain Henderson was tireless on Saturday and he will no doubt add plenty more caps in his career.
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