Ireland's Six Nations campaign has hit a low point after a dismal display in Paris, a 36-14 thrashing at the hands of France that left them looking on par with the world's best only two years ago. The team's head coach Andy Farrell described their performance as lacking "intent" and was left to pick up the pieces from a game that seemed to be out of reach for most of the 80 minutes.
Farrell had framed his side as the hunters rather than the hunted going into the game, but it was France who ultimately proved too strong. The Irish bench came on in place of the injured starting XV, and while some showed promise - such as Ulster back row Nick Timoney's debut effort - there were few positives to be taken from a night that saw Ireland concede six penalties.
The selection policy of Farrell has been increasingly called into question after the defeat, with former Ireland lock Donncha O'Callaghan stating that "this Irish team are on the ropes and everyone is coming after them" as they look for answers. The team's reliance on a single province - Leinster - has also come under scrutiny, with O'Callaghan suggesting that it may be time to integrate players from other provinces into the squad.
Ireland have won only two of their nine games since the start of last year, and five of those losses have been by margins of 10 points or more. The team's set-piece was rendered almost irrelevant on Thursday night, with Ireland winning a scrum penalty but failing to build on it.
The loss is another blow to Ireland's World Cup hopes, with many now wondering if they can get back on track before the tournament in October. For now, however, the focus will be on regrouping and finding a way to stop the rot that has seen them look well below the world's best in recent times.
Injuries are inevitable but the main issue is the lack of depth in Ireland's squad outside their starting XV and select others. Reserve scrum-half Craig Casey has been part of the squad for almost five years, yet has never started a Six Nations game against opposition other than Italy.
As O'Callaghan pointed out, "You could use the excuses and they are there, the injuries, we haven't the depth of squad to go that deep, but there's been a fundamental thought of relying on the Leinster base and for the last few years that hasn't gone as well for the Leinster team."
The future is uncertain for Ireland, but one thing is clear: they need to find answers quickly if they are going to stop the rot and get back to being among the world's best.
Farrell had framed his side as the hunters rather than the hunted going into the game, but it was France who ultimately proved too strong. The Irish bench came on in place of the injured starting XV, and while some showed promise - such as Ulster back row Nick Timoney's debut effort - there were few positives to be taken from a night that saw Ireland concede six penalties.
The selection policy of Farrell has been increasingly called into question after the defeat, with former Ireland lock Donncha O'Callaghan stating that "this Irish team are on the ropes and everyone is coming after them" as they look for answers. The team's reliance on a single province - Leinster - has also come under scrutiny, with O'Callaghan suggesting that it may be time to integrate players from other provinces into the squad.
Ireland have won only two of their nine games since the start of last year, and five of those losses have been by margins of 10 points or more. The team's set-piece was rendered almost irrelevant on Thursday night, with Ireland winning a scrum penalty but failing to build on it.
The loss is another blow to Ireland's World Cup hopes, with many now wondering if they can get back on track before the tournament in October. For now, however, the focus will be on regrouping and finding a way to stop the rot that has seen them look well below the world's best in recent times.
Injuries are inevitable but the main issue is the lack of depth in Ireland's squad outside their starting XV and select others. Reserve scrum-half Craig Casey has been part of the squad for almost five years, yet has never started a Six Nations game against opposition other than Italy.
As O'Callaghan pointed out, "You could use the excuses and they are there, the injuries, we haven't the depth of squad to go that deep, but there's been a fundamental thought of relying on the Leinster base and for the last few years that hasn't gone as well for the Leinster team."
The future is uncertain for Ireland, but one thing is clear: they need to find answers quickly if they are going to stop the rot and get back to being among the world's best.
this irish rugby team is having a major identity crisis 
...they used to be all about speed and agility but now it's like they're playing with a bunch of old men on the pitch 
. farrell's tactics are just not working out, he needs to shake things up ASAP 
. that reliance on leinster is getting old, can't we see some young blood coming in from the other provinces? 
...that says a lot about how far they've fallen. and don't even get me started on the set-piece, if that can be made relevant again, maybe, just maybe, they'll have a chance to turn things around 
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...they need to sort themselves out pronto or they'll be packing their bags at the end of march 
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they were on fire just 2 years ago & now it feels like they're still trying to figure things out. I mean, a 36-14 thrashing is crazy! 
and 6 penalties? that's just embarrassing 
as for the selection policy, I think Donncha O'Callaghan has a point - Leinster dominance needs to come to an end 
they need more depth, esp outside their starting 15 
gotta shake things up, try some new combos 
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. It's not just the team's performance, it's also their depth of squad - you can see why Donncha O'Callaghan is calling into question their selection policy 
. I'm not sure what the solution is, but something needs to be done ASAP 
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. I think the problem is that they're relying too much on Leinster players - they need to integrate more players from other provinces into the squad 
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. They need to find ways to prevent them or make sure they have a better depth of talent 
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. He needs to find a way to shake things up and get more players performing at their best 
. And yeah, the loss to France is a big blow - they were hoping to be in contention for the World Cup now... 
. They can't just rely on the same old faces coming in off the bench, Craig Casey has been sitting there for ages, still waiting for his chance to shine 
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... you can't just focus on one area and expect to be strong everywhere else. It's like trying to build a wall with just one brick 
... eventually it's gonna come crumbling down. They need to think about developing their bench players, like Craig Casey, and give them more opportunities to shine 
... that's how you build depth and become a well-rounded team. And for real, the lack of intent on the field is like, a red flag 
... they can't just show up and expect to win without putting in the work. They need to re-evaluate their strategy and get back to basics 
, but now we're paying the price for it... Like, what's the point of having all these talented players if they're not all playing together? 
Andy Farrell's selection policy is callin into question and I don't blame the man for wonderin if he's made some mistakes. The reliance on Leinster players is a problem too - they're not gettin the same results from other provinces, which is why we're seein these big losses... 5 out of 9 games with losses by margins of 10 points or more? That's not good, mate 
, I mean who lets a team get thrashed by 36 points?!? 
and yeah coach Andy Farrell is totally to blame, his selection policy is WACKY 
, it's like he's relying on the same old Leinster players for every game... yawnzzz 
they can't just rely on past glories and think they're gonna magically turn it around. injuries are one thing, but the lack of depth is a bigger issue here. gotta shake things up, make some changes... or else 
... Donncha O'Callaghan has a point tho, we need more depth outside that starting XV. Injuries happen but the lack of experience for players like Craig Casey is concerning