The game was only just over, and Andy Farrell was already brooding on exactly where it had gone wrong. Listening to him, you guess his Ireland team, who did so well to fight their way back into the match after being 22-7 down, are going to have a long week picking over the bones of their 30-24 defeat.
Farrell was particularly keen to focus on how France had stifled Ireland at the breakdown. There was the sloppy start, too, which left them 10 points down in seven minutes, and, at the other end of the game, the question of whether they were right to kick their last penalty when they were six points back, and had already scored twice from attacking lineouts.
In public, Farrell backed the decision. “That’s all ifs, buts, and maybes,” the coach said. “The players have a great view from out on the field, and in reality we got the three points and there was still plenty of time left. And we had another opportunity from a lineout close to the end there that we missed.”
It was undoubtedly one of those decisions, though, which the players will look back on and wonder how the game would have played out if they had gone the other way. A fourth converted try would have put them one point ahead with seven minutes left, and earned them another bonus point too.
That may be why Farrell was so keen to protect the players from public criticism. He wanted to concentrate on the good things they had done. And there were plenty to pick from.
“I was unbelievably pleased with the character and the fight from the players in that second half,” Farrell said. “They’re such a courageous side. I’ve seen many a team come here to Paris and fall over completely, especially with a scoreline of 22-7, that was never going to be the case with this lot. They backed themselves to get back into the game, and it says a lot that we were in with a chance of winning it at the end.”
Especially, as he said, given how much went against them. They lost their captain, and playmaker, Johnny Sexton, three days before the game, their hooker, Ronan Kelleher, went off after 25 minutes with a shoulder injury, and Peter O’Mahony managed only five minutes as a replacement before he went off too, with a brain injury. “It never fazed the group, and that’s a brilliant thing to take forward.”
Farrell has not wanted to talk about it, but in the back of his mind he knows his team will be back at Stade de France next year, for two crucial games in the pool stages of the World Cup, against South Africa and Scotland.
Get through them, and they will face another, against France or New Zealand. He wants his team to believe they can win games here, not be haunted by the way they came up short. So he needs them to build on this result, not be knocked back by it. It’s why he was so keen to talk up what they did well, rather than dwell on what they didn’t.
Before all that, of course, they have a home game against Italy, a trip to play England at Twickenham, and another home game against Scotland. France, who started with two home games, have to play Scotland and Wales away, before they host England on the last Saturday. The championship is not done yet.
“History shows that you’ve got to be ready to take your chance in the Six Nations, you’ve got to make sure that your own house is in order in regards to your next game,” Farrell said. “Yes, France are in pole position, they’ve had two home games, but I’m sure that if we continue to show the fight and character that we have here, in what was an unbelievable Test match, I’m certain we’ll be in the mix towards the end of it.”
