Escape To Victory

The old Parisian rugby stadium at Colombes was the venue for the famous war film, 'Escape To Victory'. Well, on Saturday past, the new Parisian rugby arena of the Stade de France was the setting for another equally famous 'escape to victory' executed by the rugby warriors of Ireland. The Oirish are entitled to 'crow' about their famous win in Paris, but gee they were lucky....very lucky, monsieur!

Those of us of a sentimental and romantic inclination will be chuffed that Brian O'Driscoll ended his illustrious career on a high. His last performance suggested that he probably has at least one more Six Nations in him if he wanted to defy the laws of nature for another year. Alas, that won't come to pass, and besides Brian is wise to quit while he is ahead. He has taken his share of knocks in the rugby arena, and not even his worst enemy would want him to degenerate like Muhammed Ali has tragically done. Instead, O'Driscoll can concentrate on another formidable challenge: being a good husband and a good parent. Some might argue that tackling Bastareaud, the flying centre-cum-prop forward is a dawdle by comparison.

O'Driscoll might also have signed off with a try, but the otherwise outstanding Trimble failed to draw a tackle from the last man, and so O'Driscoll wasn't in the clear when he received the Ulsterman's pass, but happily the Irish did score from the ensuing ruck. The man in the right place was Jonny Sexton who helped himself to another brace of tries. Sexton is such a dynamic presence that I think he could easily be slotted into the centre, allowing the more steady influence of Ian Madigan to pull the strings at fly half. I thought that Madigan's cameo in the final heart-thumping ten minutes was a very calming and solid presence amidst the chaos of that frantic finish. Incidentally, while Ireland did their utmost to run the clock down by going through a multitude of phases, Rob Kearney took leave of his senses and launched a futile garryowen which ceded possession in those precious last few minutes and invited pressure upon his team which resulted in the near-miss of the disallowed try in the corner. Kearney remains one of Ireland's best players, but his moment of madness is a candidate for one of the most suicidal incidents on a sporting field. Amid all the post-match euphoria, I think that an old hand like Paul O'Connell needed to go up to Rob, pat him on the back and thank him for his huge contribution in 2014 and previous years, and also state that the next time you fire a garryowen into the sky in the last few minutes while we are clinging on to a two-point lead and trying to win the championship, I will kick you from one end of Ireland to the other - and back again!

O'Connell impresses me. He may not quite be the effective ball-carrier of old, but he remains a tower in the line-out and a willing runner in the loose. Moreover, in his post-match interview he poured scorn on what he considered was an inadequate performance. Paul is not easily pleased. He doesn't settle for mediocrity. I wholeheartedly endorse his sentiments. While Ireland continued to function flawlessly at the line-outs, our scrummaging got worse as the match wore on. Our final scrum after the controversial forward pass was an absolute shambles, and we only just redeemed ourselves when Toner and colleagues executed a marvellous choke tackle before France themselves choked us of a victory. Furthermore, Ireland were frequently driven back in the tackle and rarely forced their way over the imaginary gain line. Moreover, our tackling was suspect, and the most memorable moments from this titanic tussle include the sight of Bastareaud rampaging forward, with three Irishmen clinging to him! 

Nevertheless, for all our faults, induced by a much-improved French team, we did prove our worth at grabbing tries from rare incursions into enemy territory. This demonstrates how lethal the team are. If Ireland advance, they capitalise on their possession and pressure with lots of points to show for their efforts. Gone are the bad old days of laying siege to an opposition's try line and not coming away with any reward. Great teams are clinical and punish mistakes. Ireland fit that profile.

Special mention should go to Murray who launched attacks and took the heat off his three-quarters. His contribution to Trimble's try was immense. Chris Henry too deserves a standing ovation for a one-handed offload to Sexton which was simply out of this world. How Eddie Butler and Brian Moore failed to mention Chris's moment of supreme skill beggars belief! Henry's Ulster team-mate Andrew Trimble was the vital source of the third try as he burst down the right flank, while Jonny Sexton was on hand to apply the touchdown. Ireland should have closed the game out thereafter, but they specialise in doing everything the hard way!

Speaking of touchdowns, we can thank God that Steve Walsh redeemed himself for overlooking Szwarzewski's illegal 'touchdown' and referring the final 'try' [or passing the decision-making buck perhaps?] to the video referee. Otherwise, France would have won with two illegal tries, and that monsieur would be most unbearable. Mind you, the France soccer team has a bit of 'previous' at denying the Republic of Ireland with an illegal score a few years back.

Moreover, France missed an 'easy' penalty in the second half while a missed drop goal in the first half also threw away a dangerous opportunity too. Ireland were fortunate. France can have no complaints as they defeated England and Scotland narrowly, when they could easily have lost both matches. Meanwhile, France have defied Ireland on a number of occasions in the last couple of decades, so their comeuppance was long overdue. Who can forget that heartbreaking moment when Vincent Clerc stole in for a late try at Croke Park several years ago? Ultimately Ireland have been consistent performers in the Six Nations since 2000, and a second championship trophy is the least that they deserve after three triple crowns in 2004, 2006, and 2007. However in Paris this time Ireland probably did escape to victory!

France 20 IRELAND 22; at the Stade de France; Saturday the 15th of March 2014

15 Kearney.R

14 Trimble [TRY]

13 O'Driscoll

12 D'Arcy

11 Kearney.D

10 Sexton [2 TRIES, 2 conversions, penalty]

9 Murray

8 Heaslip

7 Henry

6 O'Mahony

5 O'Connell (captain)

4 Toner

3 Ross

2 Best

1 Healy