France sent Ireland's high hopes of World Cup quarter-final qualification into freefall on Friday, beating the Irish 25-3, and leaving the Irish needing a huge win over Argentina.
It was France, France all the way. The glory was all theirs - much to the relief of the anxious nation. In the end they deserved their margin of victory and maybe more. They also seem assured of making the quarter-final, " a chance to play a little more in the competition", as captain Raphaël Ibañez said afterwards.
Except for some moments in the first half and a brief bit of battering at the French line, Ireland did not look like scoring anything worthwhile. Even when they battered the French looked too organised and too strong for them. The Maginot Line did not save France in World War II but there were no chinks in the French defence at Stade de France and no way round it either. On defence they were superb.
That said, the Irish defence in the face of an onslaught was also superb, breached only by a genius of a kick by Frédéric Michalak and a slightly lucky chip by Jean-Baptiste Elissalde which a mixture of bungling by the Irish and excellent work by Vincent Clerc made into France's second try.
(...)
Man of the Match: There were lots of French candidates but none did as much to secure the winning as
Jean-Baptiste Elissalde who was the general and the maker of winning points.
Moment of the Match: The making and the scoring of the first try by
Vincent Clerc.
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