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
munster30 says...
@ Carpelone
Not a bad idea at all! The irish defense is certainly disciplined enough to cope with this but can you see ultra conservative Kidney doing this?
He has unbelievable luck when it comes to tough calls. Murray should have been replaced by Reddan ages ago and now he is injured so the decision is made for him. Everyone has been clamering for Donncha Ryan and dropping O Callaghan and again due to injury Kidneys decision is made for him and O Callaghan dodges another bullet. (He has more lives than a bag of cats!!!!!!)
They only calls he made were to bring in Tomas O Leary? TOMAS O LEARY??????
The man can't get a centralised contract with the IRFU, buy a start for Munster when they have a full team but he somehow has leaped over Issac Boss and Paul Marshall who have been playing very well, particularly Boss who ousted him in the World Cup but now for some reason is deemed a poorer player? Explain that one if you can. Wake up or go home Declan
Posted 14:32 06th March 2012
melkdave says...
Its not just the D'Arcy -BOD center situation Ireland will have to solve in the next year .Ireland imo have quite a few problems looming on the horizon caused mainly by the mangment being complacant .First and foremost there is no international cl;ass back up for Sexton when ROG retires most probably this year.Secondly the same can be said for the POC and DOC lock combination atm there is no experianced young combination although D.Tone might gel with D.Ryan and they need a replacment for D.Wallace at 7 a real 7 not a 6 imo.If Kidney and co dont start blooding talant soon .Ireland could be in the situation England are now but doing it with only 12-18 months to RWC2015 which isnt an ideal situation to be in imo
Posted 13:35 06th March 2012
Carpelone says...
What about having a similar arrangement of the Reds? Cooper plays FH when they attack and FB when they defend. ROG could swap position with Kearney, who is the in-form Irish of this tournament. This would also give him more work rate and he would fill some void in the midfield (I am thinking more to D'Arcy rather than Earls who had a decent, even though not exceptional, game).
Maybe ROG is too old to venture all this work.
Posted 08:38 06th March 2012
ABlack says...
This result away to France augurs well for Ireland for when they play the All Blacks in June in NZ. At least they showed they can play well and nearly win away from home against quality opposition.
While I dont beleive for a minute the Irish could win the series against the AB's in NZ, they may be hard work in the first test at least, where the AB's are traditionally vulnerable
Posted 06:04 06th March 2012
liam2me says...
Well said Munster30. Sexton at 12 would be a great option, he defended like a beast but hasn't run the show like ROG does in green. Having both on the field would have great benefit. ROG to kick from hand and at goal (which Sexton can't do) and Sexton to tackle and attack the line.
@sextons_noton_fire.
D'arcy bottled it and didn't dive on the ball then hid behind the ruck instead of defending it from the side, allowing a gap for the French to run through.
If a Munster player had a bad game I would give out equal criticism, but they didn't. Take the chip off your shoulder and the worst players on the park were those who I predicted.
Posted 23:51 05th March 2012
munster30 says...
@ philb87
Valid point about darcy but i dont see any other options at 12. It would be madness to bring Bowe in from the wing with his form out there at the moment and I dont think we should parachute an untested provincial player into this position in the middle of the tounement. Thats what summer tours are for.And it is true that we have 2 class outhalves, but if one of them is capable of playing inside centre why not try him there until a better alternative comes along. Let Rog kick to the corners and when want to move the ball ouot the line you have Sexton who looked very good and again, briliiant defensively, on Sunday.
Dont worry though Hell will freeze over before Kidney changes this team.
Posted 14:58 05th March 2012
melkdave says...
@KiwiRooster
Valid points concerning the french team.,while most countries are looking for centers and a number7 .France are looking for a half back combination and a hooker..With the imenent retirement of Servat on the horizon Szazewski should be grabbing the hooker position with both hands his been in the french set up for years so has experiance .But to my mind his just isnt upto starting and never has been..Time to look at Guirado for starting your right. Also i think time for Parra and Beauxis to start because Yasville isnt getting any younger and imo wont be there for 2015
Posted 14:55 05th March 2012
philb87 says...
I can't see the merit playing Sexton and o'Gara together. Ireland are lucky that they options to change the game in that position if they need too. Earls has played well at Centre too...i feel they need to replace D'Arcy soon..he's just not the player he used to be.
Posted 14:15 05th March 2012
pog_mahone says...
Cats Meow - if it was so boring the a) why did you watch it b) why did you read teh article on Planet Rugby and c) why did you log in and post a comment? Seems to be an awful lot of effort for something so boring.
Stag - read the rules.
Posted 13:29 05th March 2012
munster30 says...
Would like to see O Gara at 10 for his kicking but Sexton at 12 for his play making and his tacking! Boy can he tackle! Was fantastic in defense yesterday.
Alas I feel the time to try this out was against Italy and good old conservative/boring/poor team selection by Kidney will see the same 15 bar Murray starting against the Scots
Posted 12:58 05th March 2012
curates_egg says...
Tommy Bowe should never have been MOTM. Ferris and Kearney were the picks., with Sexton also playing a blinder. Bowe is extremely lucky his sliced chip for the second try didn't go into touch, as Kearney was unmarked on his inside and he should have passed rather than kick.
Reddan will now start against the Scots (pity for Murray but he should have been dropped anyway). Hopefully, Ryan will finally be given a chance. McFadden might be worth a look at inside centre. I thought Trimble had a bad game but wouldn't drop him based on one performance.
Posted 12:54 05th March 2012
jehosophat says...
Apart from against England in the WC, France don't seem to have their first half game remotely sorted recently. They got a lot better in the second half.
In this 6N so far defences seem to be on top, which is a shame. A lot of tries are coming from lucky bounces, intercepts, and turnovers. A shame. The refereeing seems less harsh and less switched on than it might be, too - the two may be related. Healey had to walk yesterday, and Sexton was badly taken out close to the line in one Irish attack. It looks to me like all sides are getting away with being offside in defence, perhaps better officiating would see more tries.
Bowe and Kearney are both looking very sharp... Those two and North for my theoretical Lions back 3...
Posted 11:32 05th March 2012
J_HDK says...
too much whinging here about tHealy not receiving a yellow. And ireland could have received two yellows?? I normally like Pearson but he wasn't at his best. Seemed to be trying to make up for not carding healy by ignoring blatant penalties buy the french. Eg very late tackle on sexton by fofana and bonnaire last man tackle on earls in the french 22 while clearly offside. Either of which are yellow card offences
Posted 11:14 05th March 2012
APV1 says...
I thoroughly enjoyed the game, which really was one of two halfs!
A draw seems like a reasonable result, as both had the opportunities to close it out and neither took them.
Kearney was awesome and deserved MOM, but Bowe was no slouch.
Some refereeing issues, but that happens in every game. There didn't seem to be one side favoured or one side incorrectly panalised more than the other.
The draw does leave the competition a bit more open too...
Posted 10:53 05th March 2012
ChrisInCrete says...
Villain of the match: No malice to speak of............
Hello, which match were you watching? Continuous off the ball stuff from both sides. A match high on niggle.
A very interesting match and result (unless you are French or Irish). The match was there for both to win, I felt that Ireland didn't make enough effort and the French failed in the efforts that they made.
Posted 10:51 05th March 2012
blametheref says...
The French can rightly bemoan that Healy should have been binned and if he was Ireland would most likely have conceded a try. That apart, both sides got their share of questionable ref calls, but Ireland lost winning this match more than the French if it can be put that way. There were many reasons: one, the Irish line out imploded on our own throw and two, far too many handling errors at key moments...
I feel it was a big mistake to take Sean O' Brien off with about 18 minutes to go, and he was right to be pissed off, as what some may not have noticed was his solid midfield defence all day and the fact he nullified world player of the year, Dusautoir, who, to beat France must be stopped, like McCaw with the AB's. That takes some doing on it's own, but more importantly, O' Brien was beginning to exploit the heavy legs of the French and had made a few good inroads with carries just before he was subbed. Anyone who knows O' Brien's game knows he has a great engine and can come into his own in the last quarter with his ball carrying and change the course of a game, and it was these strengths O' Brien has that Ireland needed in the final 15 minutes to actually go and win this match, which I firmly believe we would have if O' Brien was kept on, he's that good a player. O' Brien himself knew he was coming into his own when he was subbed, that's was why he was "rightly" pissed off. When he left the field Ireland's carrying and go forward evaporated as the French definitely got that psychological boost teams get when they see a talismanic player being subbed early...A very bad unecessary call by Ireland.
Posted 10:48 05th March 2012
Welshy says...
Ireland threw it away - quite literally at times. Lack of attacking vision was their downfall and it was so frustrating, to see them make it into the French 22 and then infringe or drop the ball. I would agree that Darcy is currently not up to the pace and Ireland need to a change here.
@ NH Saints - Not English by any chance?
Posted 10:16 05th March 2012
jontheref says...
centre12
You are loyal, make that Halfpenny and Kearney!
:-)
Posted 09:15 05th March 2012
heart_of_oak says...
I can't believe all the negative comments about this game. For me it was edge of the seat stuff for almost the whole match. I'm a proud England fan but I was desperate for the Irish to win and by God they came close, without O'Driscoll, one of the best centres our islands have ever produced.
The Irish lads may feel disappointed with a draw, as some of them are saying, but I think they put up a magnificent fight and can be very proud of what they did in this game. France were world cup finalists not so long ago, and Ireland, with a small number of players to choose from, gave the French a very tough game indeed, in France.
Come on everyone, give the Irish credit for a great performance, against the odds. Did any of us think the Irish could draw in Paris ? I certainly didn't.
I do have one question and it concerns obstruction. Maybe someone can explain the law on this for me. On numerous occasions I would see the ball come out of a French ruck or scrum and Parra would make as if to pass to a runner who would run straight at the Irish back line committing one or sometimes two Irish players. But then the ball would go to someone behind this 'dummy runner' who by now would be well in front of the play.
This might well be perfectly legal but it just seems a bit dodgy to me. Maybe someone more knowledgeable in the laws of the game can tell me.
Posted 09:11 05th March 2012
sextons_on_fire says...
@liam2me What are you yapping on about? Yet again you bash Sexton who actually played a blinder in defence yesterday, when was the last time your beloved Ronan O'Doormat made a tackle??? hahahaha You also want to put 35-year-old O'Gara at 10 ahead of Sexton? Just goes to show how blinkered you Munster fans are. You said you don't give damn about what province players play for yet every player you bash on this forum just happens to play for Leinster hmmmm. Why don't you criticise Keith Earls for his silly headless chicken hack at the ball which led to Fofana's crucial try? Oh wait you never will because he plays for Munster hahahahaha
Posted 08:26 05th March 2012