Here are our Ireland Vs France player ratings as France put one hand on the Six Nations title with a 42-27 win at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Ireland Vs France Player Ratings
Ireland:
15 – Huge Keenan: 6
Solid and hard-working as ever but wasn’t able to alter the result with France looking phenomenal in the second half.
14 – Jamie Osborne: 6
Had a huge task in marking Damian Penaud but did well for the most part. Didn’t offer much in attack though.
13 – Robbie Henshaw: 5
Barely saw the ball so had little opportunity to show his skill on the carry. Defended okay aside from one misread which led to a French try.
12 – Bundee Aki: 5
His worst game for a while in an Irish shirt, given his usually very high standards. Was replaced in the closing stages.
11 – Calvin Nash: 4
Unlucky to concede a yellow card for head contact he knew little about, but struggled to make an impression when he was on the field.
10 – Sam Prendergast: 4
Is quickly becoming exposed as a weak link in defence at test level. Had a very poor second half and needs to sort his tackling out in order to hit the heights he will hope to.
9 – Jamison Gibson-Park: 7
Consistent as ever despite being on the losing side. Did his best but ultimately couldn’t prevent his team falling to a humbling defeat.
1 – Andrew Porter: 6
Solid in the scrums and got through a lot of work in the loose. There were lots of reasons Ireland lost on Saturday, but the front row was not one of them.
2 – Dan Sheehan: 6
Got on the scoresheet and threw well in the lineout but was less impactful than usual, despite not having a bad game overall.
3 – Finlay Bealham: 6
Like the rest of the Irish front row, Bealham did okay but wasn’t able to gain the ascendency and put France under any real pressure.
4 – Joe McCarthy: 3
A stupid yellow card that severely hurt his team. Did little else positive when he came back on and will be very disappointed.
5 – Tadhg Beirne: 7
Made headlines for his clearout which claimed Antoine Dupont’s ACL, but it seems highly unlikely there was any malice in that action.
Performed better than most of his teammates throughout the match.
6 – Peter O’Mahony: 5
Not the game he’d want to sign off from the Aviva Stadium with. A shame, but he did not impact the match in any meaningful way.
7 – Josh van der Flier: 4
Totally dominated by his opposite man at the breakdown and was miles off his best form.
8 – Caelan Doris: 7
Stood up and fronted up against the French onslaught and led his team well. Cannot take any blame for Ireland’s otherwise poor display.
Replacements: 6
Murray and Healy played well when they came on and put in admirable shifts for their last home game in an Irish jersey.
Unfortunately for them, they game was well and truly over by the time the Ireland bench was emptied.
