Carbery offers hope in adversity and should now get run of games in No10 jersey
Edwards’ masterplan wins the day but out-half’s display offers long-term consolation as Ireland can only benefit from proper competition for Sexton
IT might be far-fetched to suppose that a portrait of Shaun Edwards, depicting a face that is a living testimony to the demands of rugby league, might one day hang in a smart Parisian gallery. But with French rugby union en fête, and Ireland’s blooming under Andy Farrell abruptly cut down, the man who can take most responsibility is Edwards.
This was a performance from the home team that mainlined the kind of focused, unblinking aggression that Edwards deployed to turn Wasps into the best team in Europe, that transformed Wales into threetime Grand Slammers, and that is now helping France to shuck off a decade of dysfunction and assume their rightful place at the forefront of the world game.
Ireland’s ambitions were under manic threat from the first whistle, and could have been gone by half time. That they rallied so well in the second half is itself a tribute to the improvements wrought by Farrell over the last 12 months.
But errors undid Irish efforts at crucial times, from the panicked clean-up operation off a lineout that led to France’s decisive third try, to Mack Hansen’s poor kick into touch, and on to Iain Henderson carelessly tossing away possession late on after Ireland had won the ball back with seconds flittering away.
Crucially, though, these mistakes and the blizzard of them that blinded Ireland’s vision, especially in the first half, resulted from the breathless pressure France applied.
And that all stemmed from Edwards’ masterplan. French players were everywhere, particularly at the breakdown. Enormous blue bludgeons careered into every ruck.
There was the odd stylistic flourish, but this was a French victory sourced in power, aggression and hunger.
Yet Ireland almost withstood it.
And it is there that Farrell will find glowing embers.
The precision but also the imagination showed in scoring two quick tries after half-time stunned France, and Ireland hoarded possession in the final 15 minutes.
Jamison Gibson-Park, who was unable to play the lightning style that has elevated him and the team over the last year, showed speed and daring to dart in for his score, and Hansen’s marvellous score in the first half confirmed the arrival of a substantial talent.
In time, though, the display of Joey Carbery may provide the lasting consolation.
He has barely thrown or kicked a ball in weeks, but he was authoritative and even when forced to work with hurried, shovelled ball, he made good decisions.
Johnny Sexton’s laudable ambition to play on until the next World Cup is, one imagines, grounded in the belief that he will still be the starting out-half by then.
True competition for a man in terrific form, but also in his late 30s, would be welcomed — by Farrell especially, one suspects.
And this was a good reminder of Carbery’s skills. Keeping him fit will soon be as big a priority as ensuring Sexton is in rude health.
Had the veteran started here, the outcome would have been the same. Any of the great names in No10 lore could have been summoned from history to play for Ireland and they would have been helpless given how France attacked every ruck.
It meant any ball Ireland got had to be fought over fiercely, and when it was eventually freed up, there was no time or space for the man receiving it.
The Stade de France on a February night is, traditionally, where dreams go to die. During their most dismal days, the French still, invariably, made life at least uncomfortable, and often plainly miserable, for visiting Irish teams.
This was an occasion celebrated as the first opportunity for supporters to travel abroad after the pandemic, and the Irish supporters looked to be having a splendid time, all beaming selfies and outsized comedy hats.
But on the pitch was different. There was more chance of finding joy in an abattoir.
It was Paris in springtime, but this was not the City of Light. This was a city in the shadow not of historic monuments and dreamy vistas, but on edge under the orders of Edwards. As an examination of Ireland’s improvements under Farrell, this was as rigorous as one could have imagined.
The results are in — and it is not all gloom.
Ireland had enough possession to nurture hopes of one final scoring opportunity after Carbery had cut the margin to three points with seven minutes to play, but this was not a game lost because of chronic Irish shortcomings.
Errors did play a part, but France controlled the game’s pivotal engagements.
In those circumstances, an Irish victory would have been remarka
ble. Both these teams beat New Zealand in the autumn, and despite some attempts at retrospective dilution of those achievements, they were accurate representations of the standings of the pair.
It has now been confirmed that France are some way ahead of Ireland.
Like Farrell, their head coach, Fabien Galthie, took over after the World Cup, but he was more adventurous in rebuilding from the outset.
Given the enormous spread of talent available to him through 14 elitelevel professional clubs, that is to be expected, but the degree to which they rely on their traditional power is clearer now, too.
Hulking French packs have been a central feature of their best teams for over a century, and the value of a gigantic tight five and a quick, versatile set of loose forwards to the tactics of Galthie and Edwards is much more apparent to Irish eyes now.
Farrell did not look devastated by the outcome when interviewed afterwards.
He was proud of how the team rebounded, and that must have been marbled with relief given how ugly the game could have turned after the French dominance of the first period.
Ireland showed gumption, and as a rugby league alumnus himself, Farrell would prize that characteristic.
The homework will still be extensive, though. The lineout was under stress before Ronan Kelleher’s departure. Passing under pressure dipped below the required standard, too. Decision-making from experienced players was fallible.
None of these are insurmountable difficulties. The progress hardearned since England were blitzed in Dublin last March has not been surrendered.
However, this was a sobering evening. Ireland are not the best team in the world; they are not the best team in the championship.
There will be no Grand Slam this year, but a title remains a possibility, and a campaign that ended with four wins from five would be judged a success.
Carbery will, one feels, be the longest-lasting good to come out of this contest. He will start against Italy, and if he plays well there, he should keep his place.
Form should be rewarded. Sport is ruthless.
Understanding this is part of the reason for the success Shaun Edwards has brought to so many teams.