French show up to play, then disappear

France 43
Ireland 31

A fairly predictable result contrived in an absolutely madcap manner.

France forced a series of calamitous mistakes out of Ireland and built a 40-point lead, which appeared to sweep away the cobwebs of their opening championship defeat in Scotland.

Then the other France turned up: the lackadaisical France, the team who give their rivals hope for next year's World Cup in Paris.

Ireland made quite a game of it. There were five minutes remaining when captain Brian O'Driscoll was helped from the field at Stade de France, almost exhausted and hobbling with a tightened hamstring.

The unbelievable state of affairs as he departed was that his team were within a credible shout of victory, having run in four tries in a dozen minutes to slash into a scoreline of 43-3 to France early in the second half.

It was not fanciful to believe that if Ronan O'Gara and Andrew Trimble could have wriggled through in separate late surges, we might have witnessed the greatest comeback in the championship's long history.

So what to make of France's initial dominance?

The home scrum was magnificent, but undoubtedly Ireland were culpable for each of the four tries they conceded in the first half. When Cedric Heymans and David Marty cantered over for their personal second scores after 44 and 47 minutes - Marty again profiting from an Irish mistake when he snaffled a Ronan O'Gara chip - the record books were being thumbed.

Ultimately, the Irish staved off a worst defeat on French soil and their coach, Eddie O'Sullivan, viewed his glass half-full.

"It's hard to see where France played any rugby," said O'Sullivan. "We made enough errors for a whole season and gifted them the best part of 40 points."

Asked if he could find more positives than negatives from it all, French coach Bernard Laporte replied: "Who won the game? That's the first positive point." But he and all present knew that was merely the start of the debate.

England 31
Italy 16

It was supposed to be a proving afternoon for the English midfield, the sunny Rome day when an unfabled partnership would waltz through the Eternal City's ruins to construct their own case to take on the world.

Alas, there was as much chance of Caesar climbing to the top of those senate stairs as Mike Tindall and Jamie Noon hurling themselves to the forefront of England's attacking consciousness.

The cynics might conclude they too were stabbed in the back by their own kind - the brutes inside them, no less - although at least England live to fight another day and there will be other battles for Tindall and Noon to state their worth.

But until then the jury will stay out, particularly on Noon, the Falcon who some maintain will always refuse to acknowledge he has wings.

In Wales for instance, regardless of last week's overwhelming evidence, they claim you will see more flair around a Teddy Boy's ankle.

England remained faithful to their shameless creed of power before panache, the sledgehammer before the stiletto.

White-line fever is all very understandable in a ravenous pack laying siege to the try area, but how Tindall, Noon and the rest of the forgotten back line must have yearned for what was rightfully theirs.

For six full minutes in that morose opening 40, the English front eight bumped, bored and failed really to go anywhere as the threequarters knocked their knees and wondered what their purpose was.

For Noon it seemed to be merely to help tidy up in the rucks, and it is no exaggeration to say that his boots touched more Italian shirts yesterday than his hands felt ball. Even when Harry Ellis did consent to use Charlie Hodgson, the criminally slow ball meant he could not pass on the compliment to those outside.

Blame the stuttering delivery, blame the gallant Italian defence, but also blame the absence of much ambition as well. Not until Matt Dawson's belated entry picked up the pace of both ball and movement could Hodgson highlight his undoubted creativity. But what of his supposed co-stars? Supporting roles have rarely had so few lines.

That much was already known but what remains a doubt is the compatibility of Tindall and Noon to form a midfield pairing with enough variety to take to the World Cup. Who knows, James Simpson-Daniel's late try-scoring entrance for Tindall right at the death might not be as irrelevant as first seemed.

- INDEPENDENT