Saved France: Louis Picamoles
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A try from powerful France number eight Louis Picamoles salvaged a 13-13 result against Ireland as they left the Aviva Stadium with a point.
The Toulouse man's try six minutes from time, converted by Frederic Michalak, ensured the French ended their run of three straight defeats.
It had looked like Ireland would hold on to pick up a priceless Six Nations win but a series of injury concerns over Brian O'Driscoll and Luke Marshall left the hosts scrambling for fit players before Picamoles crashed over in the 73rd minute.
It was the second successive draw between the two sides but extended France's winless streak over the past two Six Nations to seven, their worst run since 1926-27, and leaves them needing to beat Scotland at home next Saturday to have any chance of avoiding the wooden spoon.
The Irish made the early running in terrible weather conditions and were rewarded after a superb tactical kick deep into the French 22 by O'Driscoll set up a lineout.
Peter O'Mahony won the ball and from the resulting driving maul Heaslip squeezed over the line to score his eighth international try - Jackson belied concerns over his place-kicking, after a disastrous performance against Scotland, by landing a superb conversion.
France were presented with a golden opportunity to reduce the deficit in the 16th minute but Michalak, whose selection had raised eyebrows after three poor performances, missed his penalty from close range.
Ireland were very much in control but Jackson missed a chance to make it 10-0 in the 23rd minute as his penalty from long range drifted wide.
Michalak made no mistake with his second chance in the 27th minute as he slotted over a penalty to make it 7-3.
However, the Irish scrum were forcing the French into infringement after infringement and Jackson, assuming responsibility when the Irish could have kicked for the corner, opted for a kick at goal from long range in the 30th minute and converted it to restore the seven point advantage.
The 21-year-old, playing in only his second test, was showing little fear and he punished the French again three minutes later as he stroked a penalty over from about 45 metres for 13-3 which even had injured first choice fly-half Jonathan Sexton grinning and applauding from the stands.
Michalak's woeful first-half finished on a suitably low note as given the chance to give France a filip on the stroke of half-time he sent another kickable penalty wide to leave the Irish sitting comfortably enough at the break.
Jackson had an early chance in the second-half to extend the lead but his effort fell just short.
The Irish were still controlling the game but prop Mike Ross conceded a penalty in the 54th minute and Morgan Parra stepped up, replacing the misfiring Michalak, and converted it for 13-6.
Parra, though, proved he too was fallible, missing a tough penalty attempt just before the hour mark as the French started to pressure the hosts into a series of errors.
The visitors pressed forward desperate to redress the balance but saw a chance go begging as with extra men wide out to the right they failed to push home the advantage and the Irish defence held firm.
However, eventually the French breached the line as Picamoles took advantage of Ireland dithering after a penalty was awarded and tapping it quickly he touched it down for his fifth try for his country - Michalak stepped up to the task and converted for 13-13.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Try: Heaslip
Con: Jackson
Pen: Jackson 2
For France:
Try: Picamoles
Con: Michalak
Pen: Michalak, Parra
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c) 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.
France: 15 Yoann Huget, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Maxime Medard, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud.
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Greg Garner (England)
Television match official: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Comments
MunsterRedArmy says...
@ChrisInCrete: I believe BOD was taken off for concussion exams which allow players to have a sub for 5 minutes. Could be wrong though
Posted 13:32 12th March 2013
ChrisInCrete says...
Red card for the commentators. The Ref had a good match but they publicly go on about him wanting to be the centre of attention. Also , the refs comments are very useful so to all commentators - SHUT UP when they're talking
My wife quite likes Mr Walsh even though he looks like he might be getting a bit portly and is covering up his tattoo.
However, how did O'Driscoll get a blood injury break, off the pitch towards the end of the match when he was clearly exhausted/concussed. Why (How) on earth was he brought back on and why do they treat him as a special case (hold the game up for several minutes so that two physio's can hold him up - they certainly weren't trying to staunch any blood flow)?
Posted 14:43 11th March 2013
melkdave says...
@KiwiRooster
Thats a fantastic team and squad .If only France could put such a team and squad out.But injuries ect always seem to prevent France from being able to do that.PSA moaning about the state of french rugby,with that amount of talant aviable,whos he trying to kid .
Posted 11:21 11th March 2013
carpelone says...
I have been wondering what Huget had to to with the French national team for long time.
I must admit that he had an outstanding 6Ns so far and certainly, one of the few positive notes for France, both in attach and in defense.
Posted 11:08 11th March 2013
carpelone says...
I hope that this was not the last home game in Dublin in the green jersey for BOD.
First, he is still better than many others in Ireland and the partnering with Marshall could prolong his playing games.
Secondly, he deserves to exit the stage in style for all he has achieved in the last ten years for Ireland.
Posted 10:53 11th March 2013
chancer says...
Why do we have to put up with these refs whose interpretation of the laws is different from that used in NH leagues? No wonder the players are confused as to what is allowed.
Posted 10:05 11th March 2013
mlbp says...
@kiwirooster
Thanks for your post. I love reading your contributions.
Great team you are proposing.
Parra has always been a bit overrated in my opinion. It would be difficult to leave such a young player aside though, but I prefer Machenaud. He's electric and plays round the fringes and that is needed by this French team.
I haven't seen Wisniewski play but Trinh-Duc offers little when it comes to decision making and Michalak is still useful but these tough matches he has had must have cost him dear in terms of confidence.
Debaty and Ducalcon are miles behind Mas, Domingo or Forestier. Szarzewski is past his prime for sure.
Huget as a winger can be more useful but he has played superbly as a fullback.
I remember Yann David as an excellent prospect but he's been unlucky. Is he back at his best form. His partnership with Fofana or Fickou looks promising.
Mermoz offers options but he looks unconcerned in some matches. His attitude seems to let him down.
Do you think PSA will be shown the exit door? I think that the 6 nations tournament is becoming more and more of a nuisance for the French as years go by. Actually international rugby is a bit of a bother for them. The end of year tour is poor because some players can't join it as they are still playing the finals of the Top14, and the ones that can are carrying so many knocks or have so little in their tanks that there's nothing to do. The only attractive moment for the French to play test matches is in November when the players are still healthy. February is too far into the season for any decent form to show.
Posted 09:35 11th March 2013
Bambo says...
The French were awful apart from something like 15 - 20 mins of play but somehow still find a draw. Allez PSA! Things are getting better!? The grand plan must be working!? Awful stuff and the only consolation is that Ireland, at home, put in much more effort, were much more engaged but still fell awfully short.
Michalak simply needs resting. Dusautoir too. Both overplayed.
Huget was great. Picamoles, Kayser and Nyanga reliable as ever. Still waiting for the rest to really click. Can that happen with PSA?
Posted 20:21 10th March 2013
KiwiRooster says...
30 French players wish list for 2013:
Dulin (15)
Huget (14) Bastareaud (13) Fofana (12) O'Connor (11)
Wisniewski (10) Machenaud (9)
Dussautoir (6) Picamoles (8) Nyanga (7)
Samson (4) Vahaamahina (5)
Mas (1) Kayser (2) Forestier (3)
Subs: Domingo (prop) Ben Arous (prop) Guirado (hooker) Orioli (hooker) Maestri (2nd row) Taofifenua (2nd row) Guiry (flanker) Gunther (flanker) Galan (8) Paillaugue (9) Lopez (10) Fickou (centre) David (centre) Andreu (winger) Buttin (fullback)
Exit: Parra Trinh-Duc Michalak Clerc Médard Fritz Szarzewski Debaty Ducalcon Claassen.
Time to look forward with RWC 2015 in sight. For the youngest players it is now or never.
Posted 18:08 10th March 2013
ernie715 says...
Its very hard to watch 6 Nations and not fall asleep. I'm surprised that Walsh and Joubert could stayed awake too. But give credit for Machalak for costing France the game during extra time. The idea to kick into the try zone where he could have gone for the drop goal is beyond me. France needs to get their backs in order.
Posted 17:55 10th March 2013
melkdave says...
@ToAll
The WOODEN SPOON is awarded to the team finishing last in the competion.It doesnt matter how many points they have,as long as its less than anyone else.If two teams have the same number of points ,then NO WOODEN SPOON is awarded.At the moment France have less points than anyone else,so a WOODEN SPOON would be awarded.
Posted 17:37 10th March 2013
carpelone says...
And dreadful coaches.
Posted 14:40 10th March 2013
carpelone says...
Dreadful weather, dreadful teams, dreadful game. Never a tie was more appropriate.
Posted 11:51 10th March 2013
1st58 says...
As per my comment on the other match, why on earth don't we change the rugby season? Playing our top matches at this time of year is crazy - I see no reason why Rugby can't become a summer game - with our long hours of daylight in the summer I'm sure the game would expand hugely as a spectator sport - and players would get the chance to highlight their skills.
As for the scrum - refs are just not coping with the management of the scrum at all, and how many games potentially could (have) be decided by a call (likely incorrect) which leads to a converted penalty - the IRB really needs to get this sorted out, it has been discussed ad nauseum. Finally, I wonder what Picamoles has to do to get a MOTM award? He is certainly the player of the tourny thus far.
Posted 11:25 10th March 2013
Iyhel says...
Re. Wooden Spoons, basically it would seem that North of the Channel it is for the bottom ranked team whatever their record; and South it is for the team who lost all their games (aka whitewash up north). I like those small cultural disparities...
Posted 11:12 10th March 2013
choky says...
very boring game - referring frm walsh was ok for me - i just did not undertsand why the french did not get any penalty when they were destroying the irish scrum - can somebody explain that to me ? but owise good referring which was fair for both sides (not like the again anti french referring frm joubert last game)
owise again am very sceptical with psa - parra is probably the best kicker france has had for ages so when he is on the pitch that should be obvious that he should be the one kicking - this should be a clear decision frm psa and that shows again that he really is no good coach - this said i think that irelenad was the less worst team and france lucky not to lose this poor game -
i fear that france will have miserable time for many years to come - it is obvious that the suptid french system (by far too many games) - the dreadful choice of coaches (why cant we choose a proper coach ? and why when it is obvious that the coach is bad we anyway will never change before next world cup ?) - and worst indeed the fact that less ans less french young players can play in their clubs because of far too many foreign players makes it very hard to believe in french rugby - so i fear that as always been the case france will have great game once in a while - will always be dangerous team on a good day but thats it - it has been too many years now that i have been hoping / waitting for proper changes to be made by the french authoritiites but i know now that this will never happen and that france will never be really in position to win a world cup - sad but true
Posted 10:03 10th March 2013
jamesliveinhope says...
@GCP Jones - speaking as a neutral I thought the Earls non-penalty call was the right one - Its been said before that slow motion can make something look worse than it actually is - the TMO was clearly having problems with his call because it was difficult to tell whether Earls was shoved off his line or simply lost the contest for the line. Walsh helped them TMO by saying he was happy witth the contest and appeared to only involve the TMO because the touch judge told him to.
I'm glad that that the TV pundits don't referee at this level.
On the subject of refereeing, being English, I shouldn't particularly like Walsh but every time I watch one of his matches I remain impressed with his game management. Not sure that I disagreed with any call and his communication was excellent. Nearly saw a sign of the old impatience when another scrum succumbed to the special concertina surface but not aimed at the players.
On the topic of the surface, how many Irish players are going to be on the sick as a result of ankle, knee and hamstring damage? I know it was wet but these are international stadia and, the pitches stand up worse than some of the more claggy club grounds.
Posted 09:00 10th March 2013
honestpom says...
@ kybone
easy solution would be to get all the domestic rugby out of the way by the end of March and play the 6 nations in a continual block from April onwards, maybe have a one off final decider for the top two at the end of it. Could be done whilist still having the autumn internationals, would mean there would have to be just a European club/ regions tournament or just the domestic leagues....not enough room for both.
Posted 08:48 10th March 2013
Axax says...
@Irishaussie
Not at all, the comment was made following some strange decisions made by the referee on a couple of scrums right at the start of the second half. After the Irish won an arguable penalty it is Brian Moor I think who then said something like:
"The French must feel there is a conspiracy against them, that everybody hates them - which is probably true, probably not necessarily in refereeing terms etc" It was nothing to do with the French fans imo.
Posted 08:38 10th March 2013
kybone says...
Well for me PSA got his team selection slightly wrong again! Why Michalak for a game like that. Why not try Michalak at 9, which is where he plays week in week out at club level i believe, with Trinh duc at 10. I thought the conditions were ideal for Basteraud- short flat passes to get him smashing the line. It was always gonna be a game with a fair amount of kicking so id have gone with Fall on the wing aswell.
For Ireland- what the hell happened? They had total dominance in the forward exchanges it seemed, and when they made it 13-3 i was half expecting a 20 point win, but they seemed to spend the entire second half trying to preserve their lead rather than build on it, and quite lterally invited France back into the game.
On a slightly different note, what do we do about this weather? Still a game to go today, but thats 3 weekends in a row that have been ruined by the weather now. We all know that good weather is never a dead cert in Britain and Ireland at any time of year, but the horrible blustery, rainy conditions have even affected games in Paris and Rome this year. Do we move the 6N, be it by a few weeks or right into the summer, or do we just accept that this is the weather we have to put up with most of the time? There are probably a lot of people who don't watch any rugby apart from the 6N, and they probably won't watch any other rugby if they think that the likes of this game is a typical example of the spectacle.
Posted 07:29 10th March 2013