Good omen as Ireland A beat French
Ireland A 15 France A 9
Ireland A coach Michael Bradley was impressed by his side’s fighting spirit during tonight’s 15-9 victory over France A at Donnybrook.
Ulster fly-half Paddy Wallace booted Ireland into a 12-3 half-time lead, but the home side were the subjected to a rousing fightback from France.
“I’m very happy with the result. It was a difficult game for us because we built a healthy lead before they hit back. But we deserved to win,” said Bradley.
The French dominated the early stages of the second half with full-back Jean-Baptiste Dambielle – who had taken over the kicking duties – slotting a penalty and Boyet threatening to cross.
Substitute Ray Hogan was sin-binned in the 59th minute, increasing the pressure on Irish shoulders.
France launched wave after wave of attacks but Ireland held out valiantly and worked their way upfield with some aggressive defence.
Replacement Paul Burke gave Ireland some breathing space with five minutes to go but his penalty was soon cancelled out by another from Boyet whose kick meant France needed a converted try to win.
They could not get the required points as Ireland held on, to Bradley’s relief.
“In the first half we spread the ball well and had lots of continuity in our game, but we had to be more defensive after the break,” said the coach.
“The most important thing for me was that the lads performed as a team and gave everything for each other.”
