Having had low expectations of the match, I declined my usual approach of drinking sparingly before the match and pinned a quantity of Tom's finest Guinness in Doheny & Nesbitt for several hours after a hearty breakfast. Having paused briefly only to go to & from the game, I watched with interest but can't swear to have taken in everything.
I was impressed as most were with the first half but after 50 minutes it was clearly a case of can we hold on, no question of us adding to our score but for the call on the illegal assault on Keet about which I am told Hook decided the shoulder to shoulder off the ball is legal. He should try that on refs who routinely award penalties against players who alter their running lines to obstruct players. A penalty all day long, if not quite clear enough for a penalty try decision. A cowardly decision as I suspect that the TV ref considered he had to ignore it or go Penalty try. I was sitting opposite the 22 on that side & Earls was certainly the quickest of the 3 chasers and was getting there first.
That apart a brave display in a 15 v 23 man game. The Irish bench may as well have been on holiday. Henderson had no time to get into the game, DOC was no improvement on Ryan who I assume is still having back trouble for why you would sub him instead of the waste of skin & bone I don't know.
I was incensed by Reddan, he is an Brennan of a player and amongst his first couple of "contributions" were 2 episodes costing valuable territory each time. I was more than happy to break his legs at that stage but of course felt instant sympathy for the man when the French actually accomplished the feat. Dreadful injury & I hope he heals well at his age.
Ferg played a good 60 minutes but then made mistakes late on. Kearney good but that sliced kick when he had the entire field to find and no one back was a disaster and cost us ultimately.
Excellent display by the Ginger Prince after the unwarranted stick last time. His one weakness there was he lacks 5 to 10 metres of range compared to most frontline kickers and the 2 misses were range issues for me. On the positive side, his general play appears spot on again after a tricky enough spell this side of Christmas for Ulster.
Murray yet again not perfect but the only show in town at 9, people need to stop harping on about him for there is no viable alternative even before Reddan's unfortunate injury. Not sure he warrants it but Small p should bench next week as there is nothing to gain from playing Boss.
I completely and utterly concur with Shan about Ross, the tragedy is the lack of alternative. Neither Robin Hood nor Killer could be exposed to a French scrum.
Fitzgerald did nothing to convince me that he is an international player, he is like a fart in a trance, you can almost see his brain clicking through the gears and he loses whatever space might be available to a player with a normal brain.
Donncha is now officially toast, unable to make the slightest improvement with fresh legs, another position with few realistic alternatives given Dan's lack of oumph this season & POC's injury woes. I see the great man is supposed to be starting a comeback this week but clearly too late for Rome.
Finally I was embarrassed by the atmosphere, it sounded like a French home game to me. I hate the Aviva, a mess of a stadium.
Must watch the game sometime to see what actually happened
