Ireland came away from yesterday's Six Nations loss in Paris hugely disappointed, but they would have also have been encouraged with some aspects of the performance.
It was a poor start from Andy Farrell's side, although they did battle back from a sizeable deficit at the start of the second half to get themselves back in the game. In the end, they just didn't have enough to get over the line.
However, performing to such a standard against a French side who are much further long in their development will be seen as a positive.
With the next World Cup just over 18 months away, many believe Ireland are ideally primed to peak for that tournament.
Rob Kearney & Matt Williams feel Ireland primed to peak at 2023 Rugby World Cup
Speaking on Virgin Media this afternoon, Rob Kearney was hopeful that Ireland had avoided repeating their previous mistake of peaking too far ahead of the World Cup.
"When you look at the French side now, you look at a team that is somewhat close to peaking.
"The encouraging thing for me about Ireland is that it doesn't look as if they've peaked yet."
Rob Kearney on Ireland after last night.#FRAvIRE #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/Ro8a3z5LIW— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 13, 2022
When you look at the French side now, you look at a team that is somewhat close to peaking. The big criticism of Irish teams down through the last few World Cup cycles is that they peak in the middle of the cycle.
The encouraging thing for me with this team is that they don't look like they've peaked yet. They still have another 20 per cent to go in terms of maximising what they can do on the pitch.
Yes, they must come up with better ways to beat the better teams. That is always going to be a challenge for this team. You look at South Africa and the manner in which they won a World Cup, it was just a matter of beating up the opposition because they were bigger and stronger...
This new attacking game plan that Ireland play is very much based on the speed of ruck ball. We didn't get that yesterday because it's harder against bigger bodies. You're not winning collisions as much, you're not going as far up the field in terms of winning the gain line.
Ireland have certainly been guilty of mistiming their development in the past, with team's often looking like they had gone beyond their sell by date by the time the World Cup rolled around. The result was often completely underwhelming with their performances on that stage.
Matt Williams believes that the game plan employed by Andy Farrell gives the team a better chance of repeating such failures in 2023.
"Ireland are five games into this new plan. France are two years into theirs.
"What Ireland can't do is lose faith in what they're doing."@MattRCNM believes the long-term signs are good for Ireland after last night.#FRAvIRE #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/WTW0YXDEvd— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 13, 2022
In another 18 months, yes I would (be more confident that Ireland could beat the big teams at a World Cup)...
I'm going to praise Andy Farrell, not condemn him. He took time to find his feet as a head coach. He was sort of in Joe Schmidt's footsteps and there was no progression.
Then in November we saw this massive radical change in how Ireland are playing. Ireland are on a path and it's the right path. They went toe to toe with one of the best in the world. They threw punches and copped a few, you're always going to cop a few in a big game.
They didn't throw them out, they hung in the fight and were there or thereabouts in the end. We are only five games into this new plan, France are two years into their plan.
What they can't do is lose faith in what they're doing and people can't jump on it and say 'it's not working and we're always getting beat up'...
They're on the right path. Is it perfect? No. Was it perfect last night? Not by any stretch.
Would I be positive that the way they are playing could beat a big team in the World Cup compared to the way we were playing? 100 per cent.
Despite the loss in France, there are definitely signs for Ireland to be hopeful.
The job is now to follow up on that promise over the next 18 months or so.
SEE ALSO: Brian O'Driscoll Questions Ireland's Decision To Go For The Posts Late On In Paris
