By Cathal Dervan

Ireland 17 France 20

HISTORY followed by last minute heartbreak international rugby finally arrived at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon as the fanfare was followed by yet another letdown in a cruel week for Irish sport.

“Silence of the Slam” one clever headline writer called it as Ireland’s Grand Slam ambitions died a quite horrible death at the hands of the French in front of the biggest crowd to ever witness a Six Nations match.

The side that now calls Croker home were four points ahead thanks to a 78th minute Ronan O’Gara penalty when Ireland failed to take control of the re-start from substitute French out-half Lionel Beauxis.

Instead of sticking the ball up their jumper and playing out the final two minutes, Ireland managed to spill the ball and the hungry French took full advantage as winger Vincent Clerc ran in the match winning try.

It was cruel, it was unexpected, it was sickening and it was more than the French deserved on an afternoon that saw New Zealand referee Steve Walsh rob Eddie O’Sullivan’s team not once but twice in the second half.

Walsh, whose style it has to be said was heavily criticized by the Irish in the lead-up to the game, first blew his whistle for a knock on without playing the advantage as Geordan Murphy ran all the way to the French line under Hill 16, only to be hauled back.

Then neither the Kiwi nor his linesman managed to spot a blatant tug on Munster prop Marcus Horan by full-back Poitrenaud en route to the same line in the dying minutes.

Both decisions cost Ireland on a day when they badly missed the charismatic leadership of injured captain Brian O’Driscoll and the speedy deliveries of Peter Stringer.

Ultimately, though, the Irish were left to rue the opening 20 minutes and the closing two as a terrible start allowed France to dominate as the sense of occasion seemed to over-awe an Ireland team overcome by the historic nature of the day.

The visitors went to town as the near 83,000 strong crowd both roared their team on and unnerved them on their way to a 13-11 halftime deficit.

That Ireland were only two points down at the break was a miracle as the French were well worth their lead courtesy of a sloppy Ibanez try on 14 minutes, when he skipped past Geordan Murphy, and two penalties and a conversion from out-half David Skrela.

Ireland did settle, penalties from O’Gara on 12 and 24 minutes keeping them into it before a sweeping move and fine work from Hickie, Horgan and Wallace sent O’Gara in for the first Irish try, subsequently unconverted, in the 31st minute.

Croker erupted with that score and the Irish dug deep on the resumption to finally take the lead through another O’Gara penalty in the 57th minute, then stretched it to four points with their final score two minutes from the end of regulation time.

It looked enough to win it, but Les Bleus had other ideas as they regained their own restart and Clerc eluded Neil Best and John Hayes on his way to the match winning try, converted by Beauxis.

Anyone in the ground or watching on television without French blood was sickened by the final twist in this historic tale, not least Irish coach O’Sullivan as the Grand Slam was marked absent for another year.

“We couldn’t have done any more than we did. The boys gave their guts for the cause and that was a cruel way to lose, by any standards,” O’Sullivan said.

“It was tough to take because I thought we’d done enough to win the game. We were smarter in the second half and had the French where we wanted them.

“They needed a lucky break to win and they got it when the ball bounced their way. It’s hard to swallow a loss like that.

“If we’d done something stupid like dropping the ball or giving away a penalty, then fair enough. But it was a lucky break and we’re unhappy about it. In retrospect the occasion got to the players.

“It was very hard to ignore what was happening. The stadium was full and it was a phenomenal atmosphere. The whole setting was different for a home game. We knew it would be we addressed it and talked about it.

“But the occasion did get to the boys there was an extra edge of nervous-ness that wouldn’t have been there at Lansdowne Road. Hopefully that’s over now because we’ve played the first game at Croke Park.”

The Irish coach also refused to blame referee Walsh for his misdemeanors. “Steve admitted at the time when he blew the whistle on Geordan that he’d got it wrong. He apologized to the boys and these things happen.”

France coach Bernard Laporte showered his team in praise after winning the game he always felt would decide the 2007 championship against a team his side will meet in the World Cup in Paris later this year.

“Our spirit in forwards was brilliant,” Laporte said. “We stuck to our task well. We’ll take some valuable experience from this performance. We beat Argentina in the autumn and Ireland today so now we’ve beaten two of our rivals in the World Cup group stages.”

Ireland: Dempsey; Murphy, D’Arcy, Horgan, Hickie; O’Gara, Boss; Horan, R. Best, Hayes, O’Callaghan, O’Connell, S. Easterby, D. Wallace, Leamy.

Replacements: Flannery, S. Best, N. Best, M. O’Driscoll, Reddan, P. Wallace, Trimble.

France: Poitrenaud; Clerc, Marty, Jauzion, Dominici; Skrela, Mignoni; Marconnet, Ibanez, de Villiers, Nallet, Pape, Betsen, Harinordoquy, Chabal.

Replacements: Bruno, Milloud, Thion, Bonnaire, Yachvili, Beauxis, Heymans.

Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand).