Six Nations 2023: ‘Ireland eye Grand Slam after toppling France in showdown for the ages’

Big sporting events are often smothered in hype, but Ireland and France were contested on Saturday 80 minutes of breathtaking test rugby It surpassed all expectations, confirming one team as the best in the world while plunging the other into an unenviable period of soul-searching.

When this year’s Six Nations fixtures were announced in April, eyes were immediately drawn to Ireland’s home game against the 2022 Grand Slam winners, and the highs of both teams in the months that followed only added to the anticipation.

While Ireland cemented their status as one of the Northern Hemisphere’s rugby superpowers with a Test series win over the All Blacks in New Zealand and defeats by world champions South Africa and Australia in the autumn, France just kept winning.

Indeed, Les Bleus rocked into the Aviva on Saturday after a 14-game winning streak, with Ireland determined to overthrow the one side whose scalp had eluded them during Andy Farrell’s tenure.

The two best teams in the world. A sizzling atmosphere. A championship blockbuster full of subplots and starring some of the best players in the world.

It was all designed to disappoint, wasn’t it?

Well, that was it, but Ireland and France had other ideas as they clashed in a first half so breathless and frenetic that it secured the game’s place in the debates of the ‘Greatest Six Nations’ for years to come.

Watching these two well-oiled machines collide in front of a spellbound crowd of 51,000 was like reminiscing about the great Premier League games of Arsenal and Manchester United in the Wenger and Ferguson eras. It was sports theater in its purest form.

It could also be the culmination of a rivalry that has given us ‘Le Drop’ and last year’s loud Stade de France thriller in recent years, but rugby fans everywhere are hoping for another chapter in Paris at the World Cup later in this year.

While the mere prospect of a knockout game in rugby’s quadrennial showpiece is enough to capture the imagination, any continuation of the competition on Saturday must include moments like Damian Penaud’s glorious counterattack or James Lowe’s spectacular corner leap for Ireland conjure up a second try to match the original.

“The first half was [incredible]right?” said Farrell, who has overseen 13 straight home wins.

“Wow, it was just end-to-end stuff. We all hoped it would be like that, but it definitely was.”

While Ireland, who now have Italy, Scotland and England between them and a fourth Grand Slam, won’t lose the importance of the result, the voice of Johnny Sexton – who missed the 2021 and 2022 defeats to France – cut through the post-match -Enthusiasm to remind his teammates of previous false dawns.

“It’s not worth anything if we screw it up against Italy now in the next game,” said Sexton, who also paid tribute to his half-back partner Conor Murray, who managed 57 minutes at the end of a difficult week off at Field.

“We’re talking about keeping the trajectory like this, as opposed to 2019 when we dived [after winning the Grand Slam in 2018].

“To get better you have to win the league or a Grand Slam. How you do that, you focus on the next two weeks and try to beat Italy away from home after watching their game last week [a 29-24 defeat by France]you know how tough the game is going to be.”

However, Ireland could add to their growing injury list after a painful encounter with the French. While Sexton downplayed the groin injury he sustained when Uini Atonio landed on him, hooker Rob Herring was forced off after being thrown up by La Rochelle’s powerful support, resulting in the Frenchman being booked .

Tadhg Beirne, meanwhile, left the stadium in a protective boot, with Farrell admitting the lock injury “doesn’t look too good”.

With Robbie Henshaw, Tadhg Furlong, Jamison Gibson-Park, Dan Sheehan and Cian Healy already sidelined it’s worrying but Farrell can be encouraged by the contributions of his substitutes, from Ross Byrne, who scores five points, to Tom O’ Tooles can ball in hand.

After a breakneck first half, something had to give way in the second but after absorbing waves of blue pressure following Sexton’s withdrawal, Garry Ringrose’s bonus point try had France staring at a dismal post-mortem before hosting a resurgent Scotland in two weeks’ time.

“It’s been almost two years since we lost, it’s hard to take,” said France head coach Fabien Galthie.

“The winning streak is there, now you have to learn how to take defeat. Loss isn’t really a friend, but we’ll have to spend the day with it.”

Whether France can bounce back in time to salvage their title defense before hosting the World Cup remains to be seen.

But after mastering the hype to take down the mighty French beast, Farrell’s Ireland have made their biggest statement yet in their quest for rugby’s biggest prizes.