Irish rue missed opportunities as France take the win in Six Nations opener

France continued their winning streak against Ireland in the opening match of the Six Nations with a 15-27 win, despite a red card for Gabrielle Vernier in the second half.

Ireland will view this match as the one that got away, at times authors of their own misfortune, with handling errors, wayward kicks off the tee and kicks out on the full which cost them. Conversely, France were clinical in Ireland’s 22 and kicked all the points on offer to them.

One shining light for the Irish was their dominant driving maul which saw them score two tries, but their scrum faltered. And despite the chance to go 17-17 with 15 minutes to go, fly-half Dannah O’Brien had an off day from the tee, unable to convert any of her side’s three tries, with the French then pulling away in the final ten minutes with a well worked try from replacement Emilie Boulard.

Ireland had to deal with consistent French pressure in the first five minutes of the match. With the visitors camped in Ireland’s 22, France turned down a kick in front of the posts to set up the driving maul and with penalty advantage, centre Vernier charged in on a hard line to dot down to the left of the posts, with the try converted by full back Morgane Bourgeois.

Despite France owning 77% of the possession in the first ten minutes, Ireland finally burst into life, showing their attacking intent as their sevens stars combined after centre Aoife Dalton made a decent break in midfield. Captain Amee Leigh Costigan then found Eve Higgins, who found Stacey Flood, but they were unable to convert the pressure into points.

Whilst unforced errors hampered Ireland’s attack, with balls hitting the deck in the opening quarter, the French defence was fast up and ferocious and didn’t make life easy for the home side.

To make matters worse Flood kicked the ball out on the full to gift France a lineout just outside Ireland’s 22, and a highlights reel offload from flanker Charlotte Escudero out the back door saw France pass along their backline which ended with Marine Menager dotting down. Bourgeois was on point from the tee with the score at 0-14.

However, Ireland soon had a try of their own after a penalty kick to the corner saw a training park move as standout player Aoife Wafer powered through three defenders, scoring her seventh try in just 12 international appearances.

Ireland then had to weather wave after wave of French attack with huge tackles coming in- the home side’s work rate particularly impressive. Testament to Ireland’s defence was the fact that France decide to take the three points with another Irish penalty, and Bourgeois once again delivered.

A mistake from Carla Arbez who kicked the ball out on the full gave Ireland promising territory just before the half-time break but communication broke down and Neve Jones knocked on after a pass she wasn’t expecting and the French went in 17-5 ahead at the break.

The second half got off to a bad start from a French perspective with influential player Vernier sent to the bin after rushing out of the line and clattering heads with her opposite number Higgins. The bunker review later upgraded the incident to a red card.

Ireland responded immediately with a try from hooker Jones off the back of a driving maul from 15 metres out but the conversion was once again missed to keep Ireland a score behind.

Unfortunately from an Irish perspective, they were not able to make the most of their player advantage over the course of the next 20 minutes, with too many penalties handing France territory.

With 15 minutes to go, Ireland managed to put together a decent spell of possession in France’s half, and with a penalty kick to the corner, once again set up the driving maul.

And what a weapon it was proving to be, as for the second time in the match, the set piece provided the points. Wafer the woman grounding the ball for her second of the game. O’Brien’s missed conversion meant they were unable to draw even, still trailing by 15-17.

With eight minutes left in the game Bourgeois split the uprights to increase the gap to 15-20 with a penalty and Irish spirits were finally broken when Boulard came in on a great line to crash her way over the try line. Bourgeois then made it five from five to bring the final score to 15-27.

Ireland will come away disappointed and despite promising spells from Scott Bemand’s side, ultimately the French took the points when it mattered.