Six Nations: France demolish Ireland's Grand Slam dream in devastating second half
France celebrate after scoring a try against Ireland in the Aviva. Picture: INPHO/Ben Brady
A devastating unanswered 34-point burst by a fantastic French side in the second half ensured Ireland were well beaten in this highly-anticipated Six Nations clash at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Ireland dominated the early exchanges, forcing a few early penalties that saw them throwing into a lineout 5m from the French line, but the move ended in the 6th minute when Caelan Doris was held up.
Sam Prendergast then struck the post in the 11th minute from in front of the sticks, to give France another reprieve.
France soon got themselves into the game and when Joe McCarthy was sin-binned for a cynical off-the-ball pull-back on Thomas Ramos in the 20th minute, all the momentum was theirs.
From the resultant attack the French maul drove the Irish pack backwards and French captain Antoine Dupont peeled off the back of it to go to the blindside to find Louis Bielle-Biarrey with a looping pass to go over in the left corner.
France lost talisman Dupont in the 28th minute to a leg injury, after Tadhg Beirne dropped his weight on his leg, but luckily for Ireland the officials missed it.
Prendergast finally got Ireland off the mark with a 30m penalty in the 34th minute, but the metronomic Thomas Ramos replied instantly with one of his own.
Prendergast had the last word in the half with a huge penalty from the halfway line to ensure that Ireland only trailed 6-8 at the break.
Ireland got the second half off to the perfect start when Dan Sheehan scored off the back of a maul in the 43rd minute to give Ireland the lead for the first and only time.
Three minutes later France crossed for a try after Maxime Lucu burst through the middle and openside Paul Boudehent continued the drive to the Irish line, while Calvin Nash was yellow carded due to a head contact in a tackle on centre Pierre-Louis Barassi in the build-up.
France then scored a wonderful try in the 51st minute. They won a turnover on their right wing and Damien Penaud quickly breached the Irish defence and sent a long raking pass to speedster Louis Bielle-Biarrey. The Bordeaux winger then kicked infield and easily outpaced Prendergast to dot down.
Ramos slotted another three points in the 55th minute, which meant seventeen unanswered French points in just nine minutes, as France did wreck while having a numerical advantage.
The tries kept coming with Jegou powering his way over from close range in the 59th minute, as Ireland simply had no answer, and Ramos kicked three more in the 68th minute.
Francois Cros was yellow carded in the 73rd minute but Prendergast threw an intercept pass under the French posts that was picked off by Ramos and he fed Penaud to run in yet another.
Cian Healy got a late consolation try on his last appearance in green on Irish soil, and Jack Crowley then assisted Jack Conan with the last play of the game, but it was too little, too late.
S Prendergast (1 pen, 3 cons), D Sheehan, C Healy, J Conan (1 try each).
T Ramos (3 pens, 4 cons), L Bielle-Biarrey (2 tries), P Boudehent, O Jegou, D Penaud (1 try each).
H Keenan; C Nash, R Henshaw, B Aki, J Osborne; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, F Bealham; J McCarthy, T Beirne; P O'Mahony, J van der Flier, C Doris (c).
R Baird and J Conan (48), J Crowley for B Aki (55), J Conan and R Baird for P O’Mahony and J van der Flier (48), J Ryan for J McCarthy (57), T Clarkson for F Bealham (59), J van der Flier for C Doris (64), R Herring, C Healy and C Murray for D Sheehan and A Porter.
T Ramos; D Penaud, P-L Barassi, Y Moefana, L Bielle-Biarrey; R Ntamack, A Dupont (c); J-B Gros, P Mauvaka, U Atonio; M Guillard, T Flament; F Cros, P Boudehent, G Alldritt.
M Lucu for A Dupont (28), Oscar Jegou for P-L Barassi (46), J Marchand, D Aldegheri, E Meafou, A Jelonch for P Mauvaka, U Atonio; M Guillard, G Alldritt (48).
Angus Gardner (ARU).
App?
