The XV of France lost to Ireland (32-19), this Saturday February 11 in Dublin during the second day of the 2023 Six Nations Tournament. This defeat marks the first setback for the French team of rugby since July 2021 and put an end to his record unbeaten streak of 14 consecutive victories.
The duel at the top between France and Ireland promised to be intense and it did not disappoint. The first two nations in the world rugby rankings faced off this Saturday, February 11 at the start of the second day of the 2023 Six Nations Tournament, at the heart of the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. And the performance displayed by this Irish team leaves little doubt: unless there is a misstep, they are in first position to clinch the final victory.
The firepower of Ireland struck straight away at the start of the game, thanks to a try from Hugo Keenan (9e), immediately transformed (7-3). The French responded quickly to this opener following a superb flight from Damian Penaud (18e), well transformed by Thomas Ramos (7-13). But the Irish quickly regained control of the match, after two tries in quick succession: first by James Lowe (21e) then by Finlay Bealham (27e) to get ahead of the Blues (19-13). Heroic in defense but battered, the French ended the first period by staying in contact with the Irish XV (22-16).
Blues without offensive success
On the heels of the Irish at half-time, the XV of France started the second period with a bang, pushed by an Ethan Dumortier at the origin of two good actions (45e50e) unrewarded. More offensive, the Blues multiplied the attempts at foot to pierce a very applied Irish defense, without success. After a penalty converted by Ross Byrne (60e25-16), the French were forced to score at least two tries in twenty minutes to hope to win the match.
The successful drop of Thomas Ramos (61e) allowed the Blues to find the gap in the half-time score (25-19), which could have worsened several times without the unfailing solidarity deployed by the French against the onslaught of the Irish players. But despite his efforts, the blue lock ended up giving in for the fourth time after a long opposing streak concluded with a try from Garry Ringrose (72e), allowing Ireland to fly away in score after transformation (32-19). The last ten minutes of the match, marked by too muddled attempts by the XV of France, logically validated the victory of the Irish in this shock.
This defeat in Dublin marks the end of the Blues’ unbeaten streak, which culminated in 14 consecutive victories since July 2021 and loss to Australia (33-30). The dream of a second Grand Slam in a row is also gone, but not yet that of a new title in the tournament. The Irish are well on their way to succeeding the French and are asserting themselves even more as the favorites of this Six Nations 2023.