Rugby League: We were disappointing, admit Irish bosses
Ireland coaches Steve O’Neill and Andy Kelly refused to make excuses for a disappointing performance in tonight’s emphatic 56-16 defeat by France.
The Irish were forced to draft in a host of inexperienced players following the loss of eight Super League men and a ruthless French side put them to the sword with a 10-try show that equalled their highest-ever international score.
Wigan reserve forward Mike McLoughlin, yet to make his first-team debut for the Warriors, was a last-minute call-up and met his new team-mates for the first time at the Irish hotel on Monday night.
And the injury problems continued into the match, with wingers Mark Forster (ankle) and Rob Smyth (dazed) retiring after 11 minutes and Gavin Clinch and Gavin Gordon both played on in considerable discomfort.
‘‘We could offer a list of excuses as long as your arm but on the day we were disappointing,’’ said O’Neill.
‘‘We had 17 people who wanted to represent Ireland and we still had a lot of Super League lads but they are disappointed with the way we played. We shot ourselves in the foot. The tackling was fragile at times.
‘‘France played some superb football but they scored a lot of points off our mistakes.’’
Ireland also gave a debut to Scott Dyson, from Northern Ford Premiership club Gateshead, and Kelly took heart from the display of the inexperienced players.
‘‘There were a lot of new faces and the experience they gained will stand us in good stead for the future,’’ he added.
