Peter O’Mahony called Ireland’s 38-17 win over France one of the greatest wins of his career but urged caution amid inevitable talk of back-to-back Grand Slams. “We’re not going to get carried away here,” the Ireland captain said. “It was a good performance and that’s what you want to start a campaign like this. We want to get better.”
But even a cautious observer like O’Mahony recognized the significance of the victory, Ireland’s biggest-ever away victory over France. “I don’t think it’s getting better, really,” he said. “The pressure of the last few days, I would have given up everything to win the first race on Friday night at the Vault de Marseille. I remember as a kid watching Ireland and hoping we could hold on. Now it’s a A different animal.”
O’Mahony also paid tribute to Ireland’s young players, many of whom seized their opportunities on Friday night.
“Like Calvin Nash, Jack… [Crowley],Big Joe [McCarthy], there were some players who got the opportunity who did well,” O’Mahony said. “Joe had some great moments in the game and he’s getting better and better.”
Andy Farrell is comfortable with how his Ireland side have overcome a hostile atmosphere. “The French team always asks questions and the crowd supports them,” he said. “But we managed to keep them calm and we had the ability to stay focused and continue to attack throughout the 80 minutes. When you play against 14 men for a long time you tend to shut up more. Our intentions were very good and we were able to keep our mouths shut when we needed to We were ruthless at times and I also thought our lineouts were outstanding.”
France manager Fabian Galtier was philosophical after suffering one of the heaviest defeats of his tenure, pointing to Paul Williams’ red card as the turning point. “We played almost the entire game with 14 players,” he said. “But I told the players that now is not the time for reflection. In our analysis there was too much disappointment to express clearly.
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“Obviously, the offensive performance was not there. Waste, turnovers, dropped balls, lack of speed. We were not prepared accordingly. This is a moment of collective life. But the game continues. There are still four games to play.”
