Sunday’s Pool D decider saw Ireland beat France convincingly in what may prove to be a Pyrrhic victory for Joe Schmidt’s team.

Although Ireland were just 9-6 up going into the break, they had dominated possession and territory for the first half and could have been much further ahead. However, injuries to Paul O’Connell and Johnny Sexton in that first half saw their chances of winning the game seemingly evaporate.

As the second half wore on, fatigue set in on the part of the French players and their scrum disintegrated, whereas Ireland picked up the pace and intensity of the game. Tries from Conor Murray and Rob Kearney meant that the game ended 24-9 to Ireland, a scoreline that would have been scarcely believable for supporters of either team before kick-off.

Ireland played much more intelligently in this game than they did the previous week against Italy. They learnt from their mistakes and looked for space rather than contact. There were several moments throughout the game where Irish players could have run into heavy traffic, but instead they passed or stepped away from these danger zones.

There was also an improvement in Ireland’s attacking play, in terms of both intent and execution. The skill levels shown in the build-up to Rob Kearney’s try in the 50th minute were superb.

Following his initial break in the 49th minute, Robbie Henshaw threw a good offload under pressure to Tommy Bowe, who in turn gave a well-executed pass to Rob Kearney who was on an arcing run, keeping the move alive.

Ireland’s defence was unrecognisable from the passive, lateral effort that had allowed Italy to trouble them in their last game.

They rushed up on French attackers with incredible line speed, meaning that Wesley Fofana, Mathieu Bastareaud and Noa Nakaitaci, France’s danger men, were practically taken out of the equation.

France, when they did have clean possession, looked to move the ball wide and offload out of contact but they were disorganised and inaccurate in their efforts to do so, often allowing Irish defenders to shepherd them into touch.

Their only period of effective attacking play in the first 40 minutes came when Ireland were down to 14 men at the end of the first half due to O’Connell’s injury. The line breaks that France did manage in the game were not planned and while improvisation in attack has always been a strength of theirs, some of their players did not seem to have a clue what to do when they got the ball in space.

Ireland’s forwards were also much more organised and they functioned brilliantly as a collective. It is difficult to remember an instance in the game when an Irish forward went into contact without having the requisite support to clear the arriving French player out.

The speed and accuracy of their clear outs were of the highest standard. Every time a French player got into a jackal position over the ball, they were blasted away by an Irish forward.

Ireland targeted one of France’s main strengths, their lineout, and applied pressure until it cracked, thereby turning it into a weakness. Not once did France get Bastareaud on to the ball at pace from a set-piece.

Cian Healy wasn’t quite at his destructive best but he was part of a scrummaging unit that, despite being under some pressure early on, asserted their dominance as the game progressed. Rory Best carried out his usual role of being Ireland’s extra openside flanker, but with a heightened level of aggression and impact.

In the second row, O’ Connell led from the front magnificently until his injury, while Devin Toner’s performance more than justified his selection. His lineout ability was a key component of Ireland’s victory and his ball-carrying (an area of his game that is often criticised) was also impressive, especially as the French defenders tired throughout the second half.

Iain Henderson was one of the most influential players on either team. He grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half with some thundering carries and tackles, showing no sign of being phased by having to replace his captain. Pascal Papé, Yoann Maestri and Alexandre Flanquart were made to look like journeymen compared to these three.

There was a staggering gulf in the quality of the performances of the teams’ respective back rows. Louis Picamoles put in massive hits and was a force of nature when he got the ball in hand, but he didn’t get anywhere near enough possession to cause the havoc he is capable of. Damien Chouly was anonymous and Bernard Le Roux’s most memorable contribution to the game was to get rag-dolled by Henderson.

Thierry Dusautoir, as he always is, was one of the leading tacklers of the game with 21, but he can only carry his team so far. It has been painful to watch the Toulouse stalwart struggle under inept coaches at international level for the last eight years.

Ireland’s back row had their best performances (both as individuals and as a unit) since the narrow loss to New Zealand in November 2013. Seán O’Brien ended up with the man-of-the-match accolade, but it most likely would have gone to Peter O’Mahony if the Munster captain’s involvement in the game wasn’t curtailed by injury.

O’Mahony’s ferocious tackling and relentless harassment of France at ruck-time gave them little clean ball to work with, while O’Brien’s competition on the ground won pressure-relieving turnovers at points in the game when France began to build momentum. The openside flanker’s punishing runs with ball in hand were reminiscent of his Heineken Cup-winning exploits with Leinster a few seasons ago.

Jamie Heaslip too had an excellent performance, putting in strong carries to keep his team on the front foot and he cleared out rucks with a level of ferocity and accuracy that the French could not withstand.

At scrum-half, Murray’s performance was a vast improvement on the one he put in against Italy.

There was no loitering at the base of the ruck this time around; he got the ball away to his 10 quickly to keep up the tempo of the Irish attack and his box-kicking returned to its previous levels of efficiency. His try in the 72nd minute capped off one of the most clinical Irish performances in recent memory.

Many people (myself included) have questioned Ian Madigan’s ability to manage tight games at this level. Apart from a potential intercept and one kick out on the full, he exerted a level of control on this game of a player beyond his years. He constantly threatened the gain line, stepped defenders and threw excellent passes to bring the players outside him into the game.

The value of Sexton to Ireland cannot be quantified, but if Madigan can continue this type of form, his team may not be dead in the water just yet.

It is frustrating to think just how good a player Madigan could be if Matt O’Connor had placed the same amount of faith in him as Schmidt has. It is a testament to Schmidt’s ability as a coach that he could get Madigan to perform as well as he did, considering that his club form has not been great for the last two seasons.

Unlike France, Ireland didn’t make any conscious attempt to injure the opposition out-half. They knew they had a better chance of winning the game if Freddie Michalak stayed on the pitch. The Toulon playmaker looks world-class against the bottom rungs of the Top 14, but with the Irish back row breathing down his neck, the flaws in his game were exposed.

His missed tackle for Rob Kearney’s try allowed Ireland to strike in the most important period of the game and O’Brien had a field day running down his channel. Both he and his half-back partner, Sébastien Tillous-Borde, had to be hauled ashore after 55 minutes because they struggled to get France out of their own half.

The tempo and structure of the French attack increased noticeably when Morgan Parra was introduced to the game, while their forwards looked slightly less lethargic with Parra’s orders being barked at them. He does these things week in, week out for Clermont Auvergne but for reasons that cannot be ascertained, this doesn’t seem to merit a place in Philippe Saint-André’s starting XV.

Two of France’s best performances in the last few years (against New Zealand in November 2013 and against Ireland in March 2014) came when Rémi Talès started at 10. He plays close to the gain line and distributes well, while his territorial kicking were integral to the type of rugby that saw Castres Olympique win the Top 14 in 2013. Like his scrum-half selections, though, Saint- André has shown a preference for picking the worst out-half at his disposal.

In the centre, Keith Earls put in a good performance at 13 for Ireland. Although he butchered a try-scoring opportunity in the 31st minute, he made good decisions in attack and, as he did the previous week, used footwork and pace to evade his bigger opposite number.

He distributed well, but the biggest improvement in his performance from the previous week was his defensive play. He played a key role in an intelligent blitz defence by shooting up to cut off the outside pass but his centre partner outshone him.

Henshaw’s defence has been consistently solid since he started playing at 12 for his country, but he showed another dimension in attack in this game. Rather than crash it up at every opportunity, he used pace to cut through the French defence, displaying a level of incision not seen previously. Fofana is one of the most gifted centres in international rugby and Henshaw played him off the park.

Bastareaud’s influence on this game was practically non-existent. He never got a clear chance to run at Sexton at full-tilt due to Ireland’s competitiveness at lineout time, but his inability to pass the ball competently when Ireland’s defenders isolated him will have to change if he is to be involved in French squads after this World Cup.

Dave Kearney is considered by some to be a mundane player when compared to the likes of Julian Savea, Bryan Habana and George North, but his appetite for work off the ball and regathering of his half-backs’ kicks contributed greatly to Ireland getting their kick-chasing game functioning again.

He didn’t see as much of the ball as the rest of his back three, but he was no less effective. Several times he used his feet to change the point of attack and get on the outside shoulder of would-be tacklers.

Bowe repaid Schmidt’s faith in him by having one of his finest games in a number of years. His kick-chase and aerial ability were at their usual high standard, but he was equally effective with the ball, passing and exploiting space well.

Rob Kearney was one of Ireland’s best performers, despite one sliced clearance kick. He dominated French players every time he went into contact and his try in the 50th minute put Ireland in control of the game. While his counter attacking didn’t quite shred the French defence, he did find space to get his team moving forward.

His positional play was also crucial for Ireland. He made a vital intervention in the 43rd minute when France moved the ball wide off a scrum, resulting in a break out wide on the left. Dulin put in a clever grubber kick, but the Ireland full back was well-placed to rush on to the ball and gather.

France’s wingers spent most of the game on the back foot, cleaning up untidy ball. Nakaitaci is one of the most dangerous broken-field runners in Europe, but the few times he did have space to work with, he was flustered and indecisive. Brice Dulin, a quality counter attacking full back, was selected on the wing to nullify Ireland’s kick-chase game, but he failed to do so.

Scott Spedding is the antithesis of French full backs. He is a catch-and-kick merchant whose lack of pace or appreciation of space gave his back line colleagues no chance of exploiting gaps in the Irish defence when France had them stretched.

There was also a difference in how each team used their bench. For Ireland, Henderson, Chris Henry, Madigan and Luke Fitzgerald were brought on earlier than expected due to injuries but Ireland lost nothing in terms of performance levels. The introduction of Jack McGrath, Richardt Strauss and Nathan White saw Ireland drive home their advantage in the scrum.

In France’s case, replacements were used because starting players were under-performing. Benjamin Kayser brought them some semblance of stability in the lineout, but Vincent Debaty and Nicolas Mas weakened the French scrum to a point where they couldn’t even secure the ball from their own put-in, conceding penalties in the process.

There was a lot of talk from the French camp in the build-up to this fixture, about how they were confident that they could beat Ireland, about how they were at their fittest and about how they were going to target Sexton, but it was a quote from Schmidt following his team selection last Friday that stuck with me going into this game.

When he was informed by a journalist that Saint-André had stated that “all of the pressure is on Ireland, there’s no pressure on France”, the Ireland head coach replied with the following:

“…….we just work away in our own bubble, and we understand that there’s pressure, and I think there’s been pressure on us a number of times in recent years. There was pressure to win in France two years ago, there was pressure to play South Africa with a number of injuries and guys came in and did the job for us and there was pressure to not just win in Murrayfield earlier this year, but to win by as great a margin as we could. I think the players respond really well to that pressure and there’s a strong core of leadership in the group and I’d say I’m conscious of the pressure but more excited about the challenge.”

This gives some insight into the trust that Schmidt has in his players to deliver on the biggest occasions, when other teams would have failed. He didn’t allow himself to be dragged into any sort of sledging by his French counterpart. He knew that if he got his players into the right place mentally, they would be more than capable of facing the monumental task in front of them.

In their last meeting with France, Ireland kicked the leather off the ball and used lineout mauling to force penalties. France would have expected this and the decision to keep the ball in hand was another masterstroke by Schmidt and his coaching team. Madigan’s early introduction to the game most likely played a part in this as passing the ball plays to his strengths, but it was Ireland’s ability to execute this game plan with chilling accuracy that once again demonstrates the value of Schmidt to this team.

There were two moments in the game that demonstrated the difference between the teams. The first came in the 69th minute when France had a lineout just outside the Irish 22 metre line. Maestri caught the ball at the tail and dawdled with the transference to Le Roux. This allowed Henderson to put in a phenomenal hit, grabbing a hold of the replacement back rower and driving him several yards back.

The tackle itself was both technically astute and perfectly-timed, but the lack of urgency of the French forwards gave Ireland’s players more than enough time to disrupt. Lapses of concentration like this are enough to warrant the hair-dryer treatment from coaches at age-grade level; they should be ironed out completely long before a player makes it on to the international stage.

The second moment came in the 71st minute when Ireland had a lineout on the French 22 metre line. The ball thrown was thrown to Heaslip at 4 and much like O’Mahony did against Canada three weeks previously, the Leinster number eight recognised that the opposition forwards were not going to engage if Ireland formed a maul.

Rather than transferring the ball to the next player and conceding a turnover for obstruction, he made a split-second decision to run straight through the middle of the French lineout. It was quick thinking on the part of the player, but due credit should be given to Simon Easterby for drilling this type of awareness into his team’s forwards.

This was a microcosm of how Ireland won the game. They went into it with a clear idea of what they were going to do and a well-practiced set of tactics and France were not quick enough or clever enough to react what Ireland were doing to them.

Saint-André would have been better served by keeping his mouth shut when a microphone was put in front of him and concentrating on preparing his team for the job at hand. The run into touch by Fofana in the seventh minute and the knock-on by Dusautoir in the 53rd minute would be deemed unforgivable by either player’s club coach and are symptomatic of the malaise that France have been in under Saint- André. Guy Novès has his work cut out for him when he gets his hands on this team in January.

New Zealand are well off their best at the moment but they should beat this French team without pushing themselves too much. France have a front five that are capable of dominating teams, but when this does not happen, they have no alternative strategy to fall back on. Their fitness levels are awful to the point of being unprofessional and if New Zealand can hold on to the ball for long enough, they could run away with the game.

Although this was a resounding win for Ireland, the challenge that they face next is on another level. They have lost some of their most important leaders to cruel injuries and now they face an Argentina side who have been one of the top-performing teams so far in this tournament.

It is difficult to put Paul O’Connell’s contribution to Irish rugby into words. Munster’s Heineken Cup triumphs or Ireland’s Grand Slam and back-to-back Six Nations Championship victories would likely not have happened without him. It is one thing for Irish people to heap praise on him, but when a champion of the game like Victor Matfield says that O’Connell is the best player that he has ever played against, there is no doubting the man’s sustained excellence.

In 2009, Ian McGeechan had a number of viable options when it came to selecting a captain for the British and Irish Lions Tour of South Africa, yet there was no doubt in his mind that O’Connell was the best choice to lead that group of players against a Springbok team at their peak.

Henderson’s performances to date can ease Irish anxiety somewhat, but O’Connell’s grit and experience would have been invaluable against an Argentinian team who will hang in until the final whistle goes. If there is little between the teams on the scoreboard going into the final quarter, O’Connell’s absence may ultimately be the difference between Ireland winning or losing.

In previous World Cups, the Pumas have relied on territorial dominance, but their involvement in The Rugby Championship in the last few years has seen them expand their game plan to compete with New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.

Their backs have scored some scintillating tries in the pool stages and their back row are just as adept at the breakdown as Ireland. In Nicolás Sánchez and Juan Martín Hernández, they have a 10 and 12 who know how to get their team into the right areas of the field.

Schmidt has brought unprecedented success to Irish rugby over the last five years, but his tenure as Irish head coach will be judged solely on the outcome of Ireland’s quarter-final this Sunday.