Ireland: Settled for a draw
Ireland coach Declan Kidney rued his side's missed opportunities to finish off France after the 13-13 draw in Dublin.
The 53-year-old may have taken solace from a gutsy performance by the team against Les Bleus, but it is unlikely to end the speculation surrounding his own future.
The Irish had dominated the first half of a bruising encounter between two sides lacking in confidence - France having lost their opening three matches - and in appalling weather of driving rain but had allowed a 13-3 lead slip to end up drawing 13-13.
"Frustration is the word," said Kidney.
"We had a lot of new guys coming into the team. However, if we had one or two things go our way we would have won.
"We are knocking on the door at being contenders but it is just about taking your chances which makes the difference at this level.
"We had a penalty count which was against us which isn't good enough. We were also inside their 22 three times and gave away two freekicks and a penalty.
"In the second-half we were camped on their line once and they on ours once but we came away with nothing and with their opportunity they scored a try."
Captain Jamie Heaslip, who scored Ireland's only try, said a draw was an odd result to have to deal with but there was much to be encouraged by.
"I think there were a lot of positives and a couple of negatives to take out of the match," he said.
"It's a bit of a hard one to take at the moment but I thought overall we were more clinical in this match. However, like our losses to England and Scotland there is a feeling of what might have been."
Comments
carpelone says...
LondonWasp
Eeerrr?
You must feel sorry for Ireland, so many talents yet so badly used. Marshall was good in both games, you may wonder that BOD could have had his career prolonged with such a young energetic center by his side. This is just an example. All the changes seemed to be forced by injury rather than by a specific team development plan.
I am pretty sure that whoever takes the helm after Kidney can do very well, with a proper management of the young ones, Henshaw among the others.
Posted 14:35 11th March 2013
tellitlikeitis says...
more corruption from refere3es in all three of the weekend's games. When are peoiple going to say enough is enough? It's all well and good yo lot speculating on here about this and that, but it all means NOTHING because the refereees made clear decisions against the rules. So none of what you're all saying means a thing - you may as well commentate on the fixed WWF - there have been agendas at work across the six nations now since the second weekend. It's a bloody disgrace.
Posted 13:54 11th March 2013
3in4 says...
@Mayhem
But Ireland beat Wales, didn't they
Posted 13:35 11th March 2013
bothhands says...
@blame, I have to agree with the comments regarding Murray. I thought he was excellent, his best game in green ever, and it beggared belief when I saw the change happening. Shame for Reddan too, if he stayed on the bench he would not be in a wheelchair right now.
Not so sure about your suggestion for ROG, I wouldn't put him out there ever again rain or shine. Opportunity lost for Ireland, will be interesting to see if we can contain the Itis next week with so many injuries. Italy were so impressive against a poor england. GO WALES!!
Posted 02:34 11th March 2013
Heathy says...
@ Mayhem & Heart_of_oak, I understand your point and it does look that way. Wales have managed to get themselves back into this tournament by hook or by crook and without playing very good rugby. Wales, by their standards, are not the Wales of a couple of years ago. Far from it. What I'm saying is that Ireland have, in patches, played better rugby and looked like the better side. Unfortunately it has been very inconsistent and they have self distructed. Wales deserve to be where they are as they have ground out wins despite it not being pretty. I expected more from both sides to be honest. England have been the most consistent by a long way and (today aside) have looked head and shoulders above the rest. They just need to get over the last hurdle and I bet your arse Wales will give them a tough test. If they do then why will that be against England and not the rest? However, that's the way it goes. I actually live in Wales (although I'm English) and all the Welsh agree with what I'm saying. Well, the non one eyed ones do that know their rugby anyway. Next week will be a cracker.
Posted 19:35 10th March 2013
Mayhem says...
@heathy,
Sorry, disagree. Ireland worse than wales. The welsh went to Paris and beat that French side Ireland were, in the end, lucky to draw with. The opening match was more about wales asleep than Ireland awake. Wales are boring, but they are solid. Ireland are anything but solid at the moment.
Posted 14:57 10th March 2013
blametheref says...
Kidney lost this match on his own. Two serious errors of judgement in the last quarter saw, Murray, who was playing his most authoritive game ever for Ireland being dumbly substituted, and in the last 12 minutes it was obvious there needed to be fresh legs in the forwards, especially in the front row, and nothing was done. Kidney showed he does not trust his bench and it was this mindset that cost Ireland a win, because Ross, Healy and Best were out on their feet with 10 minutes remaining. The other facet is that it would have made sense to have been able to bring on O' Gara in the last 10 minutes in these conditions (they do have access to long range weather forecasts), as Paddy Jackson's short passing style and ordinary tactical kicking game was putting immense pressure on the Irish forwards in that they were running all over the place in the last 10 minutes with the ball being taken into contact and they were knackered against fresh legs in the French eight. What was needed at this crucial juncture was for a 9 (Murray) or 10 (O' Gara) on the field who could put the ball into territory and give the forwards a breather, also, it should be remembered that our line out was going very well too. The big conundrum is why, Murray, who was playing like a captain was substituted for Reddan, a fast game, hard ground scrum half? Nuts!!
Posted 14:26 10th March 2013
melkdave says...
1st up dreadfull conditions driving cold rain ,and a swirling biting wind BRRRRR glad i wasnt playing,i remeber those days all to well thank you lol.As to the match,as @Heathy says again a tale of two halves for Ireland.They came out with the right gameplan,and stopped France playing,and put points on the board.Second half they where just dreadfull ,and France cameback into the match in fact imo Ireland where lucky the conditions where that bad otherwise France would have steamrollered them in the 2nd half,as their pack finally got on top in every department except possibly the line out.Will the result be enough to quiten the calls for the coaches to go??Doughtfull and alot of players are now in danger of being dropped on both sides .For France Medard,Clerc,and Fitz did nothing and added nothing to the french effort along wth Denaty,while Mitchlak is a firm pitch warm weather player,in the cold and rain on a heavy pitch ,his not international class by a long way.For Ireland DOC and Heslip,are very suspect, as usual and just arnt consistent enough,while even M.Ross is looking suspect in the scrum now.R.Keaney still isnt back to his best,and wont be touring wth the Lions imo,while new farther BOD although having flashes of brilliance wont be going either .As his getting consistently injured with knocks and niggles every match it seems atm Best he stays at home and helps the missues out with hs new daughter ,to hopefuly cmeback next season fully rested and niggle /injury free.for a fantastic final season .
Posted 13:44 10th March 2013
heart_of_oak says...
Heathy - wouldn't you say that Wales have recovered and are now doing pretty well ? Your final sentence suggests Wales are doing badly. But next week, if they beat England, they could win the 6 Nations, assuming Italy beat England which I don't think they will. If England beat Italy and Wales beat England, then it'll be down to points difference I guess.
So I can't agree with your implication that Wales are doing badly.
As for Ireland, I think the loss of Paul O'Connell and Sexton really hurt them. They don't have anything like the player numbers we do in England so when they lose guys of that quality, they haven't got the luxury of an equally good replacement. O'Connell was being tipped as a Lions captain and Sexton as the 1st choice Lions fly half. When you lose players of this calibre and you don't have a top quality backup, it's bound to hurt.
Posted 13:31 10th March 2013
MunsterRedArmy says...
Ireland seem to ''defend'' the score in the second half which is wrong, they should want more points. BOD should be captain when he's around but the day will come when BOD's not playing for Ireland anymore and new captain is needed. Don't think Heaslip can do it (or at least his last performances indicate that). On the other hand the team has future.
Posted 13:30 10th March 2013
LondonWasp says...
much like italy. their first match showed so much promise, and the signs of some great things to come. but it all fell apart after that....
Posted 12:50 10th March 2013
papachinzo says...
A poor Irish team Draws with a terrible French team, I'd be delighted with that!
Posted 12:35 10th March 2013
Heathy says...
What the hell happened to Ireland? This tournament has been a game of two half a for Ireland. One being good, the other dreadful. The weather wasn't great in Dublin but Ireland came out and played the right game with the right plan and to their strengths. I thought France were lucky to keep it to a 10 point margin by half time. Then out come Ireland and did exactly the opposite for the second half. What is going on? The game against Wales was the same but the other way round. Ireland are a good side and at present better than Wales of late. However, they just seem to self destruct. Something's not right and I think it is down to leadership. Kidney just isn't cutting the mustard and Heaslip is not a captain. O'Driscol is a captain as is O'Connor. Some old guard need to go and that is clear for all to see bar Kidney. If they don't sort that out Ireland will go the same way as Wales.
Posted 12:07 10th March 2013