France destroy Irish dreams.

France destroy Irish dreams with 33-10 demolition job in Paris
From correspondents in Paris, France
February 14, 2010 Ireland had no reason to complain as they saw their dreams of a second successive Six Nations Grand Slam disappear with a 33-10 hammering by France in Paris.

Outscored three tries to one the Irish were never really in contention and to make matters worse for them they had to watch as Morgan Parra - who had unjustifiably accused them of being cheats on Thursday - produce a peerless performance kicking 15 points.

However, Ireland coach Declan Kidney - whose side only really showed their true worth in the first 20 minutes before losing their heads and prop Cian Healy to a yellow card - said there were no excuses in a defeat that heralded the end of a 12 match unbeaten run which had yielded him the IRB coach of the year award.

“We gave them a 14 point lead and once they were able to get ahead they were able to stroll away,” said the former Munster handler, who won two European Cups when in charge of the Irish province.

“We knew we needed to take our opportunities and maybe we didn't exploit them as well as we could have.

“But it was France's day and when you get beaten by three tries to one you can't complain.”

Ireland's talismanic captain Brian O'Driscoll - whose near miss at scoring a try when he outstripped Clement Poitrenaud midway through the first-half was the last bright spot for the Irish - said that the overall performance had not been up to scratch.

“We made it hard for ourselves,” admitted the 31-year-old centre.

“There were bad defensive errors, we didn't take the right options when we got into their territory, there were a lot of unforced errors and it was very difficult to get any phases together.

“All in all we played quite poorly today. We lost our shapes at time and the decision taking wasn't great at important moments. Momentum swings on small little things and it didn't go our way today,” added O'Driscoll, who is just two caps away from reaching the century milestone.

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His 99th cap should come against improving England in a fortnight at Twickenham, though, he wished for his team that it was next weekend so they could bounce straight back.

“It's a shame we don't have another game next week to put it right but hopefully we'll be back on it when we go to Twickenham,” he said.

O'Driscoll, though, insisted that this defeat did not signal the end of an era and that several of Ireland's 'golden generation' were over the hill.

“From time to time, reality bites,” said O'Driscoll.

“This type of defeat allows you to put your feet back on the ground.

“If we have the chance to don the green jersey again then we will try and correct the errors we made today.”


Agence France-Presse

Good win for the French, could they go back to back at the wrold cup?