The Blues stunned!
After the enormous slap, the biggest of the Fabien Galthié era, received against the XV du Trèfle at the Vélodrome stadium (17-38) at the opening of the Six Nations Tournament, the Blues are not spared by the press across the Channel , amazed this Saturday by the Irish recital.
It was The Sun newspaper which got the ball rolling by making a metaphor between Ireland, winner of the Tournament last year, and France, second.
“It was a match between the champions and the contenders for the crown.
You know what they say about what not to do when attacking the king: the champions have won a record victory,” the newspaper began before backing up its words: “Things have almost been too easy for Ireland.
Playing with 14 men for almost an hour helped, but France only had themselves to blame and, even when Paul Willemse was on the pitch, there wasn't much rather than wondering which of the two teams had better cured their World Cup hangover.
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“Ireland put the Rugby World Cup on the back burner”
For the Irish Mirror, “the Blues felt the loss of Antoine Dupont (who is not playing in the Tournament to prepare for the Paris Olympics with the Blues in rugby sevens) much more than Ireland lost Johnny Sexton (who left retired) ".
The Irish media also sees a nice revenge in this victory after the defeats of Irish clubs in recent years in Marseille, notably that of Leinster in the final of the European Cup against La Rochelle in 2022: “Marseille was the cemetery of the hopes of Munster and Leinster in the Champions Cup in the past.
For once, the Irish took away a good memory of the Vélodrome.”
Read alsoFrance-Ireland (17-38): Lucu overwhelmed, Gabrillagues floats… The notes of the Blues
Same story for the Irish Times which was pleased that “everything worked from start to finish”.
The Irish daily also had a little word for the legendary Jonathan Sexton, record points holder for the selection, who retired from international football following his nation's quarter-final defeat to New Zealand at the World Cup. 2023: “Life after Johnny doesn’t seem so bad.”
Ireland put the Rugby World Cup into oblivion by putting in a surprisingly calm, complete and satisfying performance to claim the biggest and best Irish victory on French soil in a Six Nations Tournament.
» Enough to make you smile.