IRELAND RATINGS
RUAIDHRI O’CONNOR
ROB KEARNEY
One of the better performers in the Ireland XV, albeit with one or two uncharacteristic moments thrown in, including a penalty that cost the side three points.
BUNDEE AKI
Looks so comfortable at this level and brings a real physical edge to the Ireland back-line. Rarely took a backwards step and contributed well at the death.
CONOR MURRAY
The quality of his pass throughout the 41-phase end-game was just so good. Operating on poor ball for much of the day, but still had an influence.
TADHG FURLONG
Quieter than he has been but still a solid contributor to the cause, and his absence was felt at scrum-time when he was replaced.
PETER O’MAHONY
Like Henderson, he was carrying the game to France right to the death and while he didn’t have the big moments others did, he still made a big contribution.
BENCH IMPACT 8
Dan Leavy (8) came in for Van der Flier and made a real impact from the beginning, hitting hard and carrying with menace. Fergus McFadden (7), Sean Cronin (7), Devin Toner (7) and Jack McGrath (7) all contributed to the late drama during the long series before the drop-goal, as did John Ryan (5), whose scrum
KEITH EARLS
Couldn’t quite break free as he did on his last visit to Paris with Munster, but delivered one of the game-defining moments with his catch over Vakatawa.
JACOB STOCKDALE
Hauled ashore after his defensive blunder for the Thomas try and now under pressure for his place. Form has dipped since November.
CIAN HEALY
Slightly mixed bag but with more good than bad. Strong at scrum-time, energetic around the park, but got himself isolated once or twice.
JAMES RYAN
Born for this. Carried hard, tackled often and well and while there were one or two potentially costly moments, he can reflect on a great start to a promising Six Nations career.
JOSH VAN DER FLIER
Was playing well before his knee gave way; it seems unlikely he’ll see action again this month. struggles minutes earlier might have cost Ireland dear.
ROBBIE HENSHAW
Looks like he is enjoying the freedom of the No 13 shirt yet needs to have a greater influence now that Aki has reduced the physical load on his shoulders.
JOHNNY SEXTON
The perfectionist in him will rue the missed penalty, but he more than made up for it with a moment that could come to define him. Superb courage and execution.
RORY BEST
His throwing was on the money, but his overall contribution was below where he’d like it to be and Sean Cronin brought far more to the party.
IAIN HENDERSON
Still carrying the game to France in the final moments, making the crucial catch off Sexton’s restart and forcing the field position. Showed good hands early on too.
CJ STANDER
Another who came to prominence as the endgame approached, his energy levels remained high right to the death – 24 carries is a big number, but Ireland could do with lightening his load.
JOE SCHMIDT
Can take credit for the accuracy at the death thanks to the work on the training ground, but won’t be happy with the rest of the second half.
slippy, it becomes kind of icy.
“We saw those two knee injuries with (Antoine) Dupont and Josh (van der Flier) – they weren’t actually hit by anyone, they fell over. Their knee kinda collapsed when they stepped and they fell over; with both of them, their right foot fell from under them.
“So, conditions were not as we would have liked them but you are going to get that at times, so you have to adapt and cope with that – and I felt we did in every way other than accumulating the points.
“If we had gone 15-6 that’s a crucial time when they are forced to maybe play a little bit more and we might profit from that – we work hard in defence. Or they maybe start to feel they are out of the game and we can finish over the top of them, but the way that they got back into the game meant it was us that was scrambling in the end. “When you have to fight as hard as we did today and you didn’t get the tries and you don’t get the flash finish that you like, you have got to roll your sleeves up and work a little bit harder to make sure you create those missing things.
“What happened today was we lost our shape; if you look early in the game we actually create really good space on penalty advantage down the lefthand touch and quickly the advantage is blown up and we are given a penalty.
PHASES
“I
felt we had put the ball through a few phases really effectively – we had our shape about us. “The longer and more attritional the game it was just getting harder and harder. There was a lot of one-out carries from them and we resorted to it as well as the game got slower and the rucks got slower because as soon as you started make two and three passes you were getting knocked behind the advantage line and it was just too hard to work from back there.”
Schmidt is expected to make some changes to his side this week after a brutal 80 minutes against France.
Josh van der Flier is definitely out after suffering a knee injury during the first half, with Dan Leavy primed to take his place. Schmidt may add either Jack O’Donoghue or Sean Reidy to the squad today.
It would be no surprise to see Jack McGrath and Devin Toner rotated into the team, while Rob Herring and Kieran Marmion may see action off the bench.
Fergus McFadden applied some heat on Jacob Stockdale with an excellent cameo of the bench, while this always looked the likely week for Jordan Larmour to make his debut if it’s to happen in this window.
But Schmidt won’t want to wield his axe too much: momentum is key and this team need to play their way into form.
There are encouraging signs: the dynamic second-row partnership of James Ryan and Iain Henderson showed signs of real promise, while Bundee Aki was excellent.
If they can put it all together and maintain their structure, they are a good team.
And as long as they have Sexton and the will to win they showed in the final five minutes, they’ll have a chance.