Having led for the majority of the game on Saturday, Ireland eventually succumbed to the will of the French scrum and conceded a try which allowed the home side a one-point victory, pretty much ending Joe Schmidt's hopes of a third consecutive Six Nations title.
It was a real physical war at the Stade de France with Ireland coming off far worse in terms of casualties.
Tom Cary of The Telegraph writes that the injury toll was certainly a factor in the game turning France's way.
But a late momentum swing – thanks in part to injuries to some key players in Johnny Sexton, Sean O’Brien, Dave Kearney and Mike McCarthy, but mostly to Guy Noves’ decision to send on a couple of half-decent props to punish Ireland’s teetering scrum – allowed France to get out of jail.
For The Guardian, Michael Aylwin felt there was little subtlety regarding physical French tactics.
Indeed, Ireland came away more than a little disgruntled with the approach of their hosts, who never made a secret of their intention to “target” key players, Johnny Sexton in particular. Sexton was forced off a few minutes from the end with a suspected sternum injury but it might be seen as the end result of a campaign of aggression against him, which began in the 14th minute when Yoann Maestri hit him late from behind.
The TMO informed the referee that he felt that one was OK. The French television director obviously felt otherwise, for the replay was studiously not shown to the wider public. Then, on the half-hour, Dave Kearney was levelled by Guilhem Guirado with a tackle whose height was right on the edge of legality. Guirado got away with it; Kearney did not. He was off, with a potentially serious shoulder injury.
Unlike most, Eddie Butler in The Guardian thought Guilhem Guirado's high tackle on Dave Kearney was not sickening or dangerous but 'magnificent'.
What took a much heavier toll were the injuries to Sean O’Brien, Dave Kearney and Mike McCarthy, knocked clean out, in the first half. The wing seemed to damage a shoulder in a terrifying – and yet magnificent – tackle on him by Guilhem Guirado, a horizontal drive by the hooker that threatened to shake Kearney apart. To injury only a shoulder may have been to escape lightly. The threat of serious damage in the modern game shows no sign of going down any time soon.
According to L'Equipe, one of the key factors in the French win was their 'impenetrable' defence which gave them both a physical and psychological edge.
The French paper's player ratings were not kind to Ireland.
Jack McGrath 6
Rory Best 4
Nathan White 3
Mike McCarthy 4
Devin Toner 4
CJ Stander 6
Sean O'Brien (not rated)
Jamie Heaslip 4
Conor Murray 4
Johnny Sexton 6
Dave Kearney (not rated)
Robbie Henshaw 6
Jared Payne 5
Andrew Trimble 5
Rob Kearney 5Replacements:
Tommy O'Donnell 5
Fergus McFadden 4
That's an average rating of 4.7 for the Irish team.
