Gathered in the dressing room after a troubling night, the Irish players sat and listened as Andy Farrell expressed his frustration. It is rare for the Ireland coach to so outwardly shows his distaste for aspects of his side’s performance but this was a night for harsh truths. As he said to ITV, and repeated later: “I’m obviously very disappointed, through something that I never thought we’d be saying about this Irish team, we had a bit of a lack of intent in that first-half - missed tackles, winning the scraps on the floor or the fight in the air, it’s just intent. And if that’s lacking you’re not going to win any international game, never mind one in Paris.”
The striking thing was how different this felt. Most have seen the Irish slide coming over these last 12 months but even in their toughest days in that time, one has never been able to question their want, desire or quality. Indeed, even on a day where the Springboks dismantled their scrum and caused questions about the very fabric of the game in November, there was a point in the final few minutes where it felt like Ireland could snatch it. In Paris, any prospect of an Irish victory disappeared quickly into the drizzly night.
