The Irish Independent's Hugh Farrelly reflects on Ireland's agonising Six Nations defeat to France in Dublin.
"Any player will tell you that it is preferable to be on the end of hammering than come within inches of a famous victory and be denied just as it is in your grasp.
"And that is specifically what happened as Ireland launched a wonderful last-ditch drive for which took them from their own 22 to the French line. Keith Earls took off down the left and stroked through a clever kick that Maxime Medard failed to deal with and when he was gobbled up by the feral Irish chasers a try looked inevitable only for substitute Sean Cronin, just on for Rory Best, to knock on the ball.
"It was one of a host of similar unforced errors as Ireland carried on from Rome in terms of shooting themselves in the foot with their mistakes. However, when Ireland were good they were very, very good -- as their three tries testify -- and in terms of intensity and commitment to the cause, this performance was at the level Ireland need to hit at the World Cup."
RSS feed
