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Ireland’s depth and resolve will be tested massively in the knockout stage of the Rugby World Cup, after they suffered serious injuries to three key players in their 24-6 win over France in Cardiff.
They may also lose another one to a citing.
The win confirmed Ireland’s place atop Pool D and pitched them into a quarter final against Argentina, back at the Millennium Stadium next Sunday.
France, as Pool D runners-up, will now take on Pool C winners New Zealand in a delicious and slightly ironic quarter final clash in Cardiff on Saturday; a repeat of the infamous 2007 match. No word yet on whether referee Wayne Barnes has volunteered his services, as the rest of the rugby world reaches for the popcorn.
In the space of half an hour, Ireland were dealt the triple blow of losing playmaking lynchpin Jonny Sexton to a groin strain, and inspirational skipper Paul O’Connell to what looks to be a nasty and possibly career-ending hamstring injury before halftime, and then lost vastly underrated blindside flanker Peter O’Mahony to a knee injury after halftime.
O’Connell and O’Mahony had to be stretchered from the field, while the pain and anguish on Sexton’s face was obvious as he gingerly walked off.
Brilliant Irish opensider, Sean O’Brien, could find himself in judicial trouble too, after he delivered a short right to the midriff of French lock Pascal Pape early in the match. The punch was being reviewed globally on social media before halftime, and if social media is strong enough to influence man of the match awards, it’s hard to see how O’Brien escapes scrutiny for his moment of madness.
Of all the players Ireland could afford to lose the least, they fell in the very same order of importance in this game.
Sexton was just beginning to direct his team around nicely when he copped two heavy tackles in quick succession, the second one keeping him down and in need of attention.
O’Connell had been typically prominent in the first half, and leads this Irish team as much by presence as by action.
And O’Mahony’s numbers over 55 minutes read very comparably against forward colleagues who played out the full 80. In my view, he’s as crucial to the Ireland side as Scott Fardy is to the Wallabies.
The shot to the Pape solar plexus aside, O’Brien had an outstanding match – he took out the popular vote MotM, despite his indiscretion – and his combination and workrate with O’Mahony and no.8 Jamie Heaslip was a major reason why Ireland were able to lay down their breakdown dominance as a foundation for this remarkable win.
Ian Madigan had a strong game at flyhalf once he came on for Sexton, kicking three from four including two important penalties, steering the Ireland team around superbly. He also combined very well with Robbie Henshaw in midfield, as Henshaw came alive in the second half when his team needed him most.
Iain Henderson came on for O’Connell, and was a major reason for the Irish forwards lifting as they did in the second half. Henderson’s ball-carrying was excellent, going very close himself to scoring the try that scrumhalf Conor Murray would cleverly score three phases later against the sizeable goalpost pad. Henderson completed as many tackles and lineout steals in the second half as lock partner Devon Toner did for the match.
Murray, Heaslip, Henshaw, hooker Rory Best, and fullback Rob Kearney – class players, all of them – all lifted in the second half, as Ireland posted an early try and then put an underwhelming French side to the sword.
Though they had their moments in the first half, and often looked dangerous attacking wider through their centres Wesley Fofana and Mathieu Bastareaud, France lost all their attacking impact in the second half as they lost the breakdown and conceded three-quarters of possession for the half. Ireland also enjoyed 80% of territory in the second 40, as they acquired the taste of French blood.
Coming into this match, Ireland had been ticking along nicely in the World Cup, and to little fanfare, despite getting something of a scare against Italy last weekend in London. They had been enjoying a blessed run with injuries compared to several other contenders in the tournament, and the belief in their chances going forward in the tournament was beginning to grow.
I had Ireland as something of a dark horse for the semis pre-tournament, and my thoughts that things were aligning nicely for Ireland’s best chance at lifting the Webb Ellis trophy were certainly not mine alone.
How they can emerge from this sudden injury crisis over the next week or so will certainly give cause for those thoughts to be reassessed, however.
But Ireland do have the game to go forward, and their improvement under Joe Schmidt to claim successive Six Nations titles is being mirrored by Michael Cheika’s Wallabies in 2015. For one thing, Ireland under Schmidt remain unbeaten against France in three encounters now, while their record against quarter final opponent Argentina is also unblemished in two starts.
And France? Well, they’ve been characteristically brilliant and disappointing in this tournament, yet no-one’s game to write them off against an All Blacks side that hasn’t been quite as clinical as expected in the less-than-taxing Pool C during this Rugby World Cup.
And if Ireland’s internal resolve and current form line is strong enough to carry them onwards, there’s no reason why France’s typical ‘Frenchness’ can’t do the same for Les Bleus.
But they do have a lot of work to do over the next week if they are to progress.