DUBLIN : France often rely on Antoine Dupont’s brilliance but after their captain sustained a knee injury it was their sheer force and collective mindset that helped them move closer to the Six Nations title with an impressive 42-27 win against Ireland.
Dupont limped off the field after 29 minutes at the Aviva Stadium and was replaced by fellow scrumhalf Maxime Lucu, which left the 7-1 bench with no proper backline player to step in if needed.
The remaining forwards, however, helped Fabien Galthie’s side overpower Ireland and overturn a 13-8 deficit with another 34 points to end the defending champions’ Grand Slam hopes.
“Our 7-1 bench played a key role, it was a gamble that paid off,” said Lucu, who produced a solid display.
“We did not have the ball in the beginning but we knew our bench could make the difference,” added Lucu, who said Dupont was in tears at halftime.
France suffered in the early stages but rolled with the punches as flanker Francois Cros made a staggering 10 tackles in 10 minutes.
“We are very proud of our performance and of our mindset. It was a very rough first half we were under tremendous pressure but we held on,” said Cros.
France need a win against Scotland in Paris next Saturday to clinch their first title since 2022 and the second since Galthie took charge five years ago.
Galthie, like the rest of the team, had Dupont in his thoughts after saying at halftime he did “not have good news” about his captain, although the extent of the injury is not known yet.
“He’s in the dressing room suffering and we’re suffering with him,” the coach said after the game.
“But Maxime Lucu has been fantastic, he played a very high level match.”
Fullback Thomas Ramos said France still needed to finish the job against Scotland.
“After losing the England game, we only had lost the possibility to complete the Grand Slam. After winning this one, we have only won the right to play for the title,” he said.
France have 16 points to Ireland’s 14 with England in third place on 10 ahead of their home game against Italy on Sunday.
(Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Source: CNA
