Simon Lewis
THE source of that headache Irish rugby fans are experiencing this morning is easy to identify. After a rousing return of the Lansdowne roar at the Aviva Stadium, when all the seats were filled and a big match buzz surrounded an Ireland game for the first time since the new arena opened, the reality is the nagging, throbbing pain of a Six Nations campaign that went begging.
With England having dispatched Italy the day before and lining up home games against France and Scotland, Ireland fans will have harboured hopes of a championship, maybe even a Grand Slam decider when Martin Johnson's team rolls into Dublin on March 18.
Instead, following a defeat snatched from the unwilling arms of victory, it is the French who now have a date with destiny against the English, at Twickenham in two weeks.
Northern hemisphere dominance will be determined without Irish influence after a 25-22 defeat to Marc Lievremont's side that was both heartbreaking and infuriating.
Ireland had made all the right noises going into the game, about putting right the wrongs of the previous week in Rome when they had scraped past Italy in spite of themselves.
On Sunday in Dublin, all those mistakes appeared to have returned home with Declan Kidney's players like unwanted excess baggage. And there's always a price to pay for that.
French captain Thierry Dusautoir could barely disguise his relief in the post-match press conference when, having given his Grand Slam-defending team five marks out of 10 for their performance, he summarised the match as one in which Ireland “made lots of mistakes and we took advantage of them”.
Not to be outplayed, or outgunned or out-thought but to have handed over the points with barely a whimper has to be the most galling way to lose a game. It is a coach's nightmare and even the stoic Kidney had trouble keeping his frustration under wraps.
But while he was right to insist his players keep battling along the road to running rugby, Ireland and Kidney really shouldn't need reminding that winning rugby also requires a certain pragmatism. A pragmatism as displayed by Ronan O'Gara, who once again gave fresh impetus to Ireland when he replaced Jonny Sexton at out-half for the last 12 minutes.
He reminded his team-mates that field position is the be all and end all to winning rugby matches and his first kick deep into the French 22 and out into touch provided the platform for Jamie Heaslip's try that got Ireland within touching distance of overhauling Les Bleus.
Again, simple mistakes undid the good work in the end, Sean Cronin knocking with the tryline begging as the clock edged towards full time, but the good work was there. And that is at least something to help alleviate this particular headache.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/Xkm6TlRvMrI/post.aspx
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