So Close, Yet So Far Again

Irish Voice Sport

So Close, Yet So Far Again

February 14, 2008

By Cathal Dervan

France 26 - Ireland 21

SO near and yet so far — just another typical day out in Paris for Ireland and the Irish as their second half heroics saw Eddie O’Sullivan’s Six Nations rugby team fall just short at the final hurdle in the Stade de France on Saturday night.

Not for the first time, and probably not for the last, Ireland had to claw their way back from an abyss against the French, but once again they left it too late as Vincent Clerc scored a stunning hat-trick to break Irish hearts once more.

Two years ago Ireland were left to play catch-up rugby after conceding more than 40 first half points in a see-saw battle. A year ago it was the Toulouse winger Clerc who did the damage with the late and conclusive try at Croke Park.

This time around Clerc scored all his tries in the first half and Cedric Heymans stretched the home side’s lead to 20 points early in the second before a stirring fight back from an Irish side that looked down and all but out with 25 minutes left on the clock.

France were well worth that 26-6 lead. They had led 19-6 at the break as Clerc’s stunning pace and some typical Irish errors led to a try fest for the winger with the lightening feet, Ireland’s only response coming from two Ronan O’Gara penalties.

When an Ellisalde kick cannoned off Brian O’Driscoll’s leg and into the hands of a grateful Heymans for the fourth try on 49 minutes the writing was on the wall for Ireland. Or was it?

Not so, according to the players who dug deep for the final 25 minutes, kept the French scoreless and pinned inside their own half in that time and probably would have won the game if the referee had played even two minutes more.

As it was they dominated the French pack, scored a penalty try and another from David Wallace and an O’Gara penalty and conversion as they threatened to turn this game on its head in the closing minutes.

Little wonder then that the home side threw their arms to the sky in thanks when that final whistle blew as the Irish players sank to the ground in despair.

“Ultimately the game turned on the lucky bounce of the ball for the fourth try,” admitted a proud but beaten Irish coach O’Sullivan afterwards as his selection of Jackman and Heaslip was justified.

“You are always disappointed when you lose but I really do feel that with a bit of luck we could have won that game. I am very proud of my players. We might have packed it in when that ball bounced for the fourth try but we showed huge courage to come back.

“I don’t feel that we got out of jail with that second half performance considering we were so far behind, but I do have the feeling that France got out of jail to be honest. The first half cost us dearly, two turnovers cost us 12 points and then that bounce, but we came back well.”

O’Sullivan, with some of the pressure lifted from his shoulders, paid tribute to his team’s second half fight back even if it ultimately proved fruitless.

“The last 25 minutes showed me that there is a lot of integrity in this Ireland side,” added O’Sullivan. “They are all honest brokers, they always give 110% in an Irish shirt and at 26-6 down weaker individuals might have walked away and assumed it was over.

“They didn’t. They are great guys and they had the integrity to gather themselves together, play on and believe that it was possible to win the game.”

Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll revealed that a stirring speech by out-half Ronan O’Gara provided real motivation to his team on the night before the match.

“We owed ourselves and our coach out there today and we lived up to some very inspiring words from Ronan on the eve of the match,” revealed O’Driscoll.

“We owed Eddie as much as we owed it to ourselves to deliver that second half performance because he was the one who stuck by us even when we didn’t deliver for him back in September.

“It wasn’t about proving anything to anyone other than ourselves. Your peers are the ones you really care about in a situation like that because they are the ones who know the effort and hard graft that goes into this, and that is one thing that we spoke about during the week.”

“That was delivered in spaces out there today. When you lose a game like that the initial reaction is one of huge disappointment but having through about it now the overriding feeling is one of huge pride in the team.”

O’Gara delivered a typical Cork and typically pragmatic assessment of Ireland’s moral defeat in Paris, a defeat he himself refused to accept as anything to celebrate after he had delivered a stirring speech to the squad.

“I have to keep some things private in terms of what I said by way of motivation,” O’Gara told the media. “We’ve been trying to get credibility back in the Irish team and we hadn’t managed to do that.

“Against France we took a step in the right direction but this team needs a win. It’s been a long time since Ireland have produced a satisfying performance like that. I asked the players to be honest and I thought we were honest but now we need to kick on.”

Meanwhile, Munster hooker Jerry Flannery handed O’Sullivan another boost after winning his appeal against the severity of a ban imposed for stamping during the Heineken Cup game against Clermont Auvergne. Flannery’s ban has been cut from eight weeks to four which means he is now eligible for Ireland’s remaining Six Nations games against Scotland, Wales and England.

Ireland: Dempsey; Murphy, O’Driscoll, Trimble, Kearney; O’Gara, Reddan; Horan, Jackman, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Callaghan, Leamy, Wallace, Heaslip. Subs: O’Driscoll for O’Kelly 53 mins.; Best for Jackman 60 mins.; Buckley for Hayes 75 mins.

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