Two tries: Tommy Bowe
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France recovered from an eleven-point half-time deficit to seal a 17-17 draw with Ireland in Paris on Sunday.
Declan Kidney's side had put themselves in a strong position going into the break after a try brace from Tommy Bowe stunned les Bleus.
But in a much-improved second-half showing the French found a route back into the fixture and in fact missed two late chances to claim the win.
The draw ends the prospect of a Grand Slam decider between Wales and France on March 17, while Ireland's title aspirations are now over.
France were sluggish throughout the first-half, with their midfield in particular showing signs of sloppiness when Bowe pounced on a wayward pass to ghost over in the thirteenth minute. Jonathan Sexton's easy conversion made it 0-7.
The physical playmaker then added a penalty in reply to France scrum-half Morgan Parra's effort.
Parra, though, quickly made it 6-10 as he kicked a penalty from just inside the Irish half - the ball creeping over the bar and to add insult to injury hitting an unsuspecting Bowe on the head.
Clermont's number nine missed with another opportunity in the 35th minute after Cian Healy became the butt of the French fans frustration when coming back from an offside position he blocked what could have been a try-scoring pass from Aurélien Rougerie.
The Irish then fashioned a try out of nothing. Breaking out of their 22, Keith Earls offloaded to Bowe and the 28-year-old broke one tackle before chipping and outpacing Poitrenaud to score. Sexton's extras went in off the post to give the visitors a 17-6 half-time advantage.
That became 17-9 in the 47th minute as Parra made no mistake from wide out and the lead was reduced further three minutes later when Wesley Fofana's individual brilliance saw him snaffle the ball outside the Irish 22 and using his speed beat full-back Rob Kearney to dive over in the corner. Parra missed the conversion to leave the Irish holding on to a 17-14 lead but he had them all square shortly before the hour mark, landing a long-range penalty.
The Irish ill-fortune continued within seconds as improving scrum-half Conor Murray went to ground clutching his knee and had to be stretchered off to be replaced by Eoin Reddan.
Kidney' side spurned two great chances when Rory Best's throw went askew with the line-out metres from the French line and although they regained possession, centre Gordon D'Arcy knocked on when under no pressure. Scores were beginning to dry up in Paris.
The French also made a mess of trying to end the stalemate as replacement Lionel Beauxis missed his attempt at a drop-goal, as it barely took off before the Irish cleared.
The hosts came back and punched away at the Irish who held strong and, unlike in the 23-21 last minute loss to Wales, didn't concede a penalty and claimed a share of the spoils.
Man of the match: France inside centre Wesley Fofana again demonstrated his potential on the Test scene with an effortless and opportunistic try in the second-half. However, those two tries cannot go unrewarded so we go for Tommy Bowe. A mention for Rob Kearney.
Moment of the match: It has to be when Tommy Bowe collected a short ball on the right wing and then proceeded to chip over the last defender, collect and score his second try of the game. That made it 6-17 with the conversion as things were looking good for Ireland.
Villain of the match: No malice to speak of.
The scorers:
For France:
Try: Fofana
Pen: Parra 4
For Ireland:
Tries: Bowe 2
Con: Sexton 2
Pen: Sexton
France: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Julien Dupuy, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Maxime Mermoz.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Peter O'Mahony, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Comments
Rosbif says...
Even closer than I thought!!
For anyone who thinks Pearson doesn't have any bottle, that's two big calls he's made. Calling the game off last time (right call). Awarding that pen to Heaslip on 78.18 mins this time (inevitably debatable call, but undeniably takes guts to do it).
In the end, for me, neither team really deserved it. Ire, for not having the wherewithal to close out the game. Fra for being so lacklustre for the first hour. Fra are only ever one game away from being totally rubbish. This was that game. Ire should have walked it. And yet, with 15 to go, France should really have sneaked it......
I hope we don't get too many withering remarks from our SH friends on how boring the game was, how many errors, how little tempo etc etc. Hopefully Eng will look at it and think "nothing to worry about here..."
Posted 18:19 04th March 2012
gauca says...
Trin-Duc has had his moments in a France jersey and made a good break today, I think that PSA should be looking to add a kicking 10 for this team to start (Beauxis), maybe then bring on TDuc to change things up in 2nd half. All we did today was kick aimlessly to the Irish backs, a very dangerous policy and one that probably should have cost us the game.
Our back division (Fofana aside) I felt achieved very little and it was left to the depth of the bench to close out this draw.
3 games in and unbeaten is great but we need to play our hand and show what this backline is capable of in attack outside of counterattack situations which as yet has been very little.
Posted 17:53 04th March 2012
munster30 says...
Be interesting to see the penalty count for today. Pearson seemed very harsh on Ireland and missed one or two important called. Kearneys keeping the ball in play from Trin-duchs penalty being one.
For the second year in a row we outscore France in the try count but can't take advantage of it! Kidney will be forced to play Reddon next week but he should be starting anyway. Heaslip had an improved performance in the loose and while Best was also good in the loose, his throwing was average today. Trimble was only ok today too, I know it was a togh day for wingers but his lines were poor, might see a change there next week.
Think the 4 matches in 4 weeks will be a good thing as Ireland will get better each game. Unfortunately this will probably save Kidneys job.
Ideal situation: Kidney goes back to Munster and Conor O Shea takes the Irish job. Whisful thinking I know but fingers crossed.
By the way, who game Tommy Bowe MOTM? Good game alright but Kearney was untouchable out there?
Posted 17:45 04th March 2012
Zygote says...
Congratulations France & Ireland on a mot enjoyable match despite the rain. France are learning to come back despite a poor start - a skill not often shown in recent decades. The Irish are on a par with the All Blacks regarding their skills in spoiling opposition ball & slowing possession - always at the limit of legality.
Posted 17:36 04th March 2012
papachinzo says...
Great game, marred by poor refereeing. Both teams got away with a few things, However the referee missed the knock on and the forward pass which led to the French Try...
Kearney was amazing under the high ball, I really don't understand why teams kick against Ireland!?
Posted 17:06 04th March 2012
jontheref says...
Entertaining match for the nuetral.
Ireland lucky to have 15 for all the game.
Professional fouls when ref playing advantage for PK near posts.
Healy should have gone as well.
Lazy running evident just prior to Fofana try, in fact I (wrongly!) thought the ref had stopped to give a yellow, not that he was going to the TMO for a try everyone else knew had been scored.
Scoreless 2nd half is what did it for the Irish, though their luck held for the draw, as France were so poor in their decision making.
If France paly so well(sic!) next week, England will be confident of winning.
Posted 17:06 04th March 2012
liam2me says...
D'arcy? What is the point in him being on the pitch? Was at fault for the French try and then drops the ball in a great position allowing France to clear their lines which Ireland never recovered from. Completely useless.
Heaslip, wasn't as invisible as usual but dropping that ball at the end was criminal.
Was Sexton even playing? Where was his game management to get a DG to win the game? Shows why he's not a 10 (never mind his kicking from hand and any penalty that wasn't in front of the posts). Should be moved to 12 and ROG at 10.
Kearney was awesome, best player on the pitch lions 15 jersey is his to lose.
What's happened to SOB? He's not as dangerous as he has been, he's such a good player although he's not a 7.
Best's throwing nightmares came back again. but was good otherwise.
Scrum was good, Line out was poor. Gutted for Murray, he was playing well hope it's not too bad.
Now that the rest of the championship is a dead rubber, why not start Ryan at 4, POM at 7 with SOB at 8, ROG at 10 with Sexton at 12 and give Zebo some game time if only off the bench?
Oh and a mention for Blind Dave Pearson, rewarding France for an early shove by giving them a free kick in the 1st half was a joke
Posted 17:01 04th March 2012
melkdave says...
Well congratulations to Ireland for getting the draw.But what the hell happened to France in the first half??I posted in the preview that they would have to step up a gear or two and match the irish intensity at the start.Instead they turned up as if they where doing a light training run no intensity no pace and lackluster slow passing also standing off in defence allowing players to run at them .MOM imo was R.Kearney another class performance where he didnt put a foot wrong The irish attack was again lacking imo apart from T.Bowes interception and kick and run they didnt create anything remotley threatening.Scotland wont be shaking in their boots over that irish performance nor England over the french
Posted 16:58 04th March 2012