Ireland vs France match report: Irish avoid All Blacks with enthralling victory but at huge cost as injury worries mount

France 9 Ireland 24

Rob Kearney slides over to score Ireland's first try against France (Getty Images)

France are now contemplating another do-or-die World Cup shot at the All Blacks – something that will not deny them too much sleep, given their record of insurrection against the best of the best. And Ireland? They have clear view of the road to a first global semi-final, even though Argentina will pose a real and present danger this weekend. Joe Schmidt’s team were nothing short of magnificent yesterday, attacking France where they thought they were strong and prevailing in every department.

But at what cost? Three front-line players – the outside-half Jonathan Sexton, the flanker Peter O’Mahony and the revered captain Paul O’Connell – were forced off the field with what at first sight looked like tournament-ending injuries. They were given the warmest of send-offs by the crowd of more than 72,000, at least 71,999 of which were surely Irish, but there was sadness in the air. The Six Nations champions may find life terribly hard without them.

Ireland knew what was heading in their direction: a pack the size of the one pieced together by the Tricolore coach Philippe Saint-Andre for this tournament is difficult to miss. So it fell to the resident hard case in the green-shirted eight, the blind-side specialist O’Mahony, to make a few early statements of the “none shall pass” variety. When it comes to providing evidential support for one of rugby’s oldest truths – namely, that the bigger they are, the harder they fall - O’Mahony was just the man.

He warmed up by giving the scrum-half Sebastien Tillous-Borde a piece of his mind before moving on to the French forward unit as a whole, putting himself at the epicentre of their first driving maul and stopping it in its tracks. Here was the encouragement Ireland craved, and they duly set about their opponents with the kind of relish Fergus Slattery and Willie Duggan of old might have recognised.

Not that the French took this stuff lying down. Louis Picamoles, whose entire body seems to have been constructed around a mighty pair of biceps, matched the fury of the Irish back-rowers with some overt ferocity of his own, while Thierry Dusautoir provided one of his regular master classes in defensive brilliance. Eight years ago on this very rectangle of grass, he out-tackled New Zealand all by himself and knocked them out of the World Cup in the process. Here, he seemed hell bent on wrecking Ireland’s campaign in same way.

Jonathan Sexton holds his chest after being tackled by Louis Picamoles (Getty Images)

After 20 minutes or so of shuddering physicality, the scores were locked at 6-6: two penalties for Sexton, neither of them gimmes, and two for the specialist long-range marksman Scott Spedding, the second of which was nailed for an unpromising position inside the French half. Then, the first of hammer blows landed on the Irish spirit

Sexton pranged himself in a tackle as he attempted to make amends for a loose kick from hand and looked more than a little shaken as he resumed his position in the defensive line. Under the circumstances, the last thing on God’s rugby earth he needed was a visit to his ribcage from Picamoles. Sod’s Law being what it is, this was what he received. Seconds later, he left the field in tears – some of them, perhaps, of pain; most of them, almost certainly, of frustration.

Good judges are already talking of Henderson as the new O’Connell – but leadership cannot be bought at the corner shop

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His replacement, Ian Madigan, can play a bit himself, and almost immediately, he gave his side a three-point lead from the tee after the French lock Pascal Pape clattered the wing Tommy Bowe with an early tackle. Pape’s presumed excuse – “I got there as late as I could, ref” – cut no ice with the Welsh official Nigel Owens, whose control of a highly-charged contest was exemplary.

There would have been more joy for the Irish had Keith Earls held a scoring pass from Bowe following a sweet, if rather basic, midfield switch move. Sadly for the expectant multitudes in the stands, the centre managed nothing of the sort. He could have…should have…and didn’t.

It seemed like a possible turning point at the time and that impression grew stronger when Pape cleared O’Connell out of a ruck and left the grandest Irish forward of his generation in a crumpled heap. Here was the most sickening of blows. Iain Henderson of Ulster, one of the locks of the tournament to date, was no mean replacement – good judges are already talking of him as the new O’Connell – but leadership cannot be bought at the corner shop.

Paul O'Connell winces in agony after suffering a serious knee injury (Getty Images)

They needed someone to stand up and be counted at the start of the second half and that man was Robbie Henshaw, the inside centre from the wilds of Connacht. He breezed through the brick outhouse known as Mathieu Bastareaud – aptly nicknamed yesterday, given that his skills, such as they are, disappeared down the toilet under pressure – and was largely responsible for the approach work that allowed Rob Kearney a sight of the French line. Unlike Earls, the full-back made no mistake, beating Frederic Michalak’s limp tackle to cross on 49 minutes.

Suddenly, the absence of Sexton and O’Connell seemed a little less devastating. The Irish even managed to survive O’Mahony’s departure with what looked like a serious knee injury, largely because the Munster player’s fellow flanker, Sean O’Brien, redoubled his efforts in a successful bid to fill the chasm.

Indeed, it was O’Brien who did much of the spadework for Conor Murray’s wrap-up try nine minutes from time, his indomitable ball-carrying through the heavy traffic forcing the French all the way back to their own line, from where they could not hope to stop the Ireland scrum-half claiming the simples of scores by grounding the ball at the foot of the post from a ruck.

Whether or not O’Brien plays in this weekend’s quarter-final is in the lap of the disciplinarians, for he appeared to punch Pape in the chest in the opening exchanges. Ireland must pray he survives any hearing. They have lost quite enough big-name players already.

Teams

Ireland: R Kearney; T Bowe, K Earls (L Fitzgerald 61), R Henshaw, D Kearney; J Sexton (I Madigan 25), C Murray; C Healy (J McGrath 56), R Best (R Strauss 72), M Ross (N White 64), D Toner, P O’Connell (capt, I Henderson h-t), P O’Mahony (C Henry 54), S O’Brien, J Heaslip.

France: S Spedding; N Nakaitaci, M Bastareaud (A Dumoulin 61), W Fofana, B Dulin; F Michalak (R Tales 54), S Tillous-Borde (M Parra 54); E Ben Arous (V Debaty 42-47 and 64), G Guirado (B Kayser 58), R Slimani (N Mas 63), P Pape (A Flanquart 72), Y Maestri, T Dusautoir (capt), D Chouly (B Le Roux 54), L Picamoles.

Referee: N Owens (Wales).