Ireland began their 2026 campaign with a 36-14 defeat to France in Paris on Thursday on an earlier-than-usual opening night of the Six Nations, taking a toll on both egos and bodies.
These teams may have won the title the past four times, but for the second straight season, when they went head-to-head, there was only one winner.
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Ireland’s performance was described by head coach Andy Farrell as lacking “intention”, continuing some worrying trends from the autumn and before.
As a considerably weaker team, the head coach attempts to reframe the changing narrative as his team are now the hunters rather than the hunted.
For much of the 80 minutes in Paris, they looked easy prey for their superior opponents.
“Here again next week [against Italy]”, former Ireland goalkeeper Donncha O’Callaghan told BBC Sport.
“This Ireland team has fallen on hard times and everyone is hunting them – they could become prey again. They have to find answers because Six Nations rugby is ruthless and they need to stop the rot.”
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Mediocre performance leaves some unanswered questions
France did not concede a goal in the match until the 45th minute [Getty Images]
As Farrell rolls the dice on his options – dropping James Lowe and giving Cian Prendergast a rare start – interesting subplots abound as the game draws closer.
However, such is the nature of Parisian shows that rarely such a subject can receive a fair examination.
Ireland selected a team that competed in the air but was rarely challenged in that regard, with its trio of new defenders in Jamie Osborne, Tommy O’Brien and Jacob Stockdale mainly on the outside.
While losing two starters as well as two substitutes to injury is unwelcome, it gives others a chance to step up and show what they can do, but set pieces have become virtually irrelevant.
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Indeed, Ireland won a scrum penalty in the 45th minute but a lack of pressure elsewhere meant France were whistled for the first time from Carl Dickson.
Discipline was a key area for improvement after the autumn game, but although Ireland conceded just six penalties, they often weren’t close enough to foul out, with 38 missed tackles on the night.
Ireland’s failure to resolve the non-negotiables – what Farrell calls “a major part of the game” – makes it pointless to sift through much else.
“I think you make your own luck in this game,” Farrell said.
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“Without the ball, I thought we lost that battle in the first half. Things like lobs and winning pieces on the field, running tackles or missed tackles – that’s a major part of the game.
“We were really second in that regard in the first half. Our reaction was heroic but it’s not what we want, we don’t want to be a reaction team. We need to show it from the start.”
Ireland again falls below world best
Despite yet another exit in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup – against, it should be remembered, a New Zealand side who were outstanding that night – Ireland felt on par with the best teams in the competition just over two years ago.
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Thoughts of a World Cup hangover seemed to have been put to rest when they beat France 38-17 in Marseille to set up the 2024 Six Nations, but what followed was a very different story.
In the nine games since then, against four teams currently ranked above them in the world, Ireland have won two and lost seven.
Five of those losses, none of the wins were by 10 points or more, and there have been times, especially when trailing 29-0 early in the second half, which seemed to be the biggest deficit in the game.
Ireland have remained admirably consistent in winning the games they should be winning. But winning the ones they can win is looking increasingly like a bridge out of reach.
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Selection policy increasingly questioned
Nick Timoney hits a field goal with the clock ticking down as the Irish trail 29-0 [Getty Images]
Few teams in the world can cope with losing three players in one position, especially one as specialized as a loose prop.
Jeremy Loughman had made just five appearances for the side before Thursday’s game, while Michael Milne’s only previous Tests had been as a substitute against Georgia and Portugal.
While this does speak to Ireland’s injury problems, it’s worth noting that even before Ireland’s loose stock took a hit, Andrew Porter’s two main backups, Jack Boyle and Paddy McCarthy, still only had eight international caps between them.
It could be argued that Cian Healy relied on his legacy until his retirement last year, but it’s not limited to just one position.
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Injuries are inevitable. Overall, however, Ireland – apart from their starting XV and a select few other players – felt under-exposed to Test rugby at the highest level.
Reserve half-back Craig Casey, for example, has been with the team for almost five years and made his 25th appearance as a substitute at the Stade de France, but has never started a Six Nations game outside of Italy – he played just seven minutes on Thursday.
Nick Timoney came off the bench to lead the team’s revival. A determined Ulster back row secured their first points of the game and put France ahead of the competition.
It was his first Six Nations appearance nearly five years after his debut and six months before his 30th birthday.
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O’Callaghan said: “You can use excuses, they are there, injuries, we don’t have enough depth, but we have the basic idea of relying on the Leinster base and things haven’t been that good with Leinster over the last couple of years.”
“You try to integrate players, but the gaps are too big.”
