RHYTHM AND BLEUS
Murray try crucial as Ireland get into the title swing to edge past France and keep England showdown on the cards
ON GOES the recovery. Needing to concoct four consecutive wins for the first time since their 2015 World Cup pool, Ireland overcame their second slow start of the Six Nations to chalk up victory number two and inflate ambitions that winning a third championship title in four season is still a live possibility.
It is no surprise. France under Guy Noves’ baton were always expected to be as limited and as stilted as they were in the ill-fated Phillippe Saint-André era. So it was in Dublin last night, first-quarter nuisance giving way to a 25-minute spell either side of the interval where a Johnny Sexton-inspired Ireland transformed a six-point deficit into a 10-point lead.
The visitors did grab a lifeline, Camille Lopez landing a 74th-minute penalty to end a scoring drought that lasted almost an hour. But any worries that they could possibly produce some late drama were swiftly countered, a Paddy Jackson penalty kick calming nerves that a deserved success would somehow be jeopardised and denying Les Bleus a losing bonus point at the same time.
Ireland never manage to beat the French comfortably, and this was no different despite the gulf in the calibre of respective performances. However, the visitors took their medicine without the elements of nastiness that had besmirched recent collisions between these two.
Referee Nigel Owens was on the spot to penalise Sebastien Vahaamahina for his high connection on a stooping Garry Ringrose while Uini Atonio was similarly caught out for a neck roll on Seán O’Brien and while there were gasps in the Lansdowne Road crowd that he let go Eddy Ben Arous’ hit on Sexton, the evening passed without real controversy.
There were two rare sights. Firstly, Sexton departing to a standing ovation in the 69th minute rather than to a casualty ward, his bag of tricks justifying Joe Schmidt’s decision to hand him just a third Test start in 10 games and his first action since he hobbled away from Champions Cup action with Leinster 36 days earlier.
Equally crucial in what was an unforgiving, bruising battle, where Ireland left numerous chances pass without reward, was Conor Murray’s tide-turning 30th minute try, a rarity in this fixture in that not since the 46th minute in Paris in 2014 – 224 minutes previously – had Schmidt’s side generated a Six Nations try against the French.
That one score was invaluable in swing this outcome, the try reassuring an initially edgy Ireland that they would hold sway and move their championship bid on to Cardiff.
The first half could be distilled into a tale of two five-metre scrums, one for each side, which reaped different dividends and a couple of Irish mauls that passed without reward.
Ireland were slow to show. However, unlike opening day in Edinburgh, the scoreboard damage was limited to just six points. An overcooked Sexton touch-finder and a Ringrose tackle slip were build-up incidents that invited the visitors to take a 12th minute lead, Lopez landing a kick after Baptiste Serin embarked on a mazy run that left Rob Kearney for dead.
Yet what happened in the following minutes was critical. An O’Brien spill resulted in a booming clearance that sloppily caught Simon Zebo out at the concession of a fivemetre scrum.
There was a penalty against Jack McGrath and at the next scrum, Lopez’ crosskick found Yoann Huget but with his space closed, his hurried offload was nudged forward on the ground by Gael Fickou, enough for a TMO review to scratch the resulting try from Remi Lamerat.
That left the French settling for just three penalty points and a sixpoint lead instead of the converted try that would have created a 10point margin. With it, their best chance of launching a victory bid was gone.
Ireland took longer than imagined to break through, though. Having kicked a penalty to touch, they knocked on at the maul, an error compounded by another front row scrum penalty. However, a second sniff in the opposite corner followed, Sexton’s loop with Ringrose and kick ahead seeing Huget miss the mark catch and a five-metre scrum ensured that was the platform for Murray’s converted try.
There could have been more before the break. A kick at the posts was spurned in favour of a quick tap, a lengthy stop-start spell of pressure that ended with Rory Best penalised for not releasing on the floor. And even then, there was a further chance on the last play, Sexton again combining with Ringrose and Murray nearly eluding Kevin Gourdon before a later knock-on called time.
Ahead by a point, Ireland knew they needed to put this to bed and this they did impressively with early second-half dominance. Serin foolishly obstructed Murray at a French scrum to hand Sexton three easy points.
Then with the out-half Sexton using penalty advantage for hands in the ruck to the 50th minute, he dropped a goal that put them 13-6 clear. That was soon followed by three more soft penalty points, Gourdon penalised for standing up at the back to the scrum.
Down by 10, France were all-but out, a Bernard le Roux knock on ruining a Scott Spedding counter. Lopez did eventually get that late kick, but that was to no avail, Jackson soon wrapping it all up and leaving Ireland back on track.