Apparently, the best French performance in the tournament was not enough to convince the Sunday Times that France had not 'gifted' the championship to Ireland at the expense of the English.
We can't be sure who wrote the headline in question (presumably it was some sub-editor). The article underneath was penned by long-time Irish rugby fan and formerly moustachieod Stephen Jones, who despite only watching the last few minutes of the match, wrote the section's front page article on the competition's climax.
Even former Green Party leader John Gormley failed in his quest to get Jones to compliment the Irish team.
Perhaps he watched it back afterwards. Jones, to be fair, did write in his Six Nations piece summing up that, while "better Ireland teams have come lower in the table" and this was not a classic tournament, "Only the most churlish would deny Ireland were the best team in the tournament."
The sour grapes in this headline are something else though. Granted it refers to the missed chances at the end but you don't receive Six Nations titles as ''gifts.'' I'm not going to lie to ye. I fuckin' love it.
Other journalists weren't best pleased with it either.
@stephenjones9 @OwainJTJones @ST_Sport Sorry Jonesy, great photo (and no doubt, report) but that was never a "gift" to Ireland
— kevin mitchell (@kevinmitchell50) March 15, 2014
@stephenjones9 Terrific impact mate. Undermined by the headline. "Gifted"?Only gift was that French 'try' at the posts.Irish edition spot-on
— Tom English (@TomEnglishSport) March 16, 2014
Meanwhile, the headline of the Irish edition...
The Irish edition, meanwhile... pic.twitter.com/9EaTcRok46
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) March 15, 2014
