Farrell hails his side’s mental strength in refusing to wilt under French heat
back with a storming close-range effort from Cyril Baille before Jaminet closed the game out with a brace of penalties.
Ireland’s nine-game wining streak and potentially their Six Nations title chances have been ended, but Farrell felt his players went down fighting.
‘I’ve seen this French side take teams to the sword when they get a sniff but when our backs were to the wall at 22-7, to find a way back and be on top for large parts of that second half, it shows everything about us,’ said the Ireland head coach.
‘We will be harsh and honest with ourselves about some decisions that we made along the way and things that weren’t quite right but all in all it was a hell of a Test match.
‘France played a very good game from the start. It wasn’t a plan of ours to go 10 points down after a few minutes and at one stage we was 22-7 down so all credit to France but I must say it shows the character and the fitness of the Irish side and the spirit that we had to be in with a chance of winning the game there at the end.
‘We already knew that we had character and that the squad was unbelievably fit and the mental strength was something we expected of ourselves. Maybe any side that comes here to Paris and finds itself 22-7 down, we’ve seen the French take advantage of that and tip a team over the edge.
‘That wasn’t going to be the case with us so I think our mental strength was fantastic tonight.’
Trailing by six points, Ireland had
a penalty deep in French territory with eight minutes remaining with captain James Ryan opting to take the three points on offer rather than take an attacking lineout and a chance to take the lead.
Farrell defended his skipper’s late call, however. ‘It’s the right decision, there is no doubt about that. They feel the game, they are in the moment, they understand what is happening. There is plenty of time left, we have a lineout after that when we were a couple of points down.
‘We had a lineout and an opportunity to go and score the try and we didn’t and that’s the game, so I back them to make those calls.’
Ryan, who deputised as Ireland captain in Johnny Sexton’s injuryenforced absence, had no regrets with his late decision either.
‘It just felt like it was the right decision at the time,’ the Leinster lock explained. ’We were imposing our game on them in that period. We felt confident in our attack and we thought we could bring the game to three points and we backed ourselves to go and win the game then off the back of that.’
Farrell, meanwhile, remains enthusiastic for Ireland’s prospects over the remainder of the tournament.
‘The competition is only just getting going, so we’ll lick our wounds and learn from what was a fighting, spirited performance.
“At the same time, we’ll be honest with each other and make sure that we learn the lessons on a few decisions that we made along the way. The result doesn’t lie, congratulations to France – they deserved the win because that’s what the scoreline tells us.’