Paris Post-mortem

I called a French win (by 4), but that doesn't make it any easier to swallow and I certainly wasn't expecting capitulation on that scale. France would probably have beaten anyone in the world on that form.

As I said to Tom in a txt after the game: A good wake up call. How they respond will tell a lot. A game of inches (Kidney said the same, after I wrote the txt - all the cliches...); mistakes punished and cruel bounces.

Healy somewhat unlucky (to be spotted, that is) but fully deserved to be binned. Flannery very lucky to stay on (does anyone know what exactly he was trying to do?) - he would have been shown the door had Healy not already been off. Both critical turning points. Our much-vaunted defense: 4 tries conceded I think all last season (six nations), and 4 already in first 2 matches.

Italy have done us a big favour - exposed England's limitations, without beating them which would have made them a dangerous beast in Twickers. The two week break to this match is much-needed on our part.

Certainly not the end of an era or anything like it, but time to really think about what this means for our World Cup ambitions. Let's cut to the chase: we don't have the strength to cope with losses of talented players such as Kearney & Luke Fitzgerald. Will John Hayes be on the flight to NZ next year? Our scrum creaks again, yet he continues to win caps and we have a huge dependency on him. No more honest player, but the doubt remains what to do at tighthead. Paddy Wallace, just not good enough, sorry - never rated him. He is a good provincial player, that's it.

So, time to bring in O'Brien, Court, O'Loughlin, Ronan, Sexton et al in the games ahead with an eye on the World Cup. We have never beaten a tri-nations team, or England or France, in a World Cup. We need to do so in the 2011 pool game to get an "easy" quarter-final and a potential semi-final. Or else beat one in a tough quarter to get to that semi. That to me is the extent of our ambitions. I'm sure Kidney thinks we have the potential to win a World Cup and will instill that belief in his squad - but to beat those teams I just mentioned not once, but THREE times in a few weeks is beyond us. It's just dreamland even for this golden generation. Print this post