KEY POINTS:
At times France coach Bernard Laporte can get a little lost in translation but there was nothing ambiguous about this: "We were facing the abyss."
That is true. The question now is whether, having put the brakes on before a Thelma and Louise-type drop, they can accelerate towards
the World Cup glory that is demanded of them.
Yesterday's evidence was inconclusive. Certainly France were a far more efficient and driven team than the one that surrendered so meekly to Argentina on opening night, but Ireland were bad.
After a shaky start in the No 10 jersey, Frederic Michalak came right and his combination with Jean-Baptiste Elissalde looked highly promising. Still, Laporte refused to anoint them as his top halves combination, trotting out the Graham Henry mantra the 30-man squad is more important than the XV.
Not that he wasn't appreciative of the team that, as he more eloquently expressed, staved off almost certain elimination from their own tournament.
"It was a high-pressure match. We would have been knocked out if we lost," he said. "The players have shown that they can react in pressure situations."
Both the French coach and his captain Rafael Ibanez credited the victory with being patient. There was a little more to it than that but they had a point.
Hold the ball long enough - and they had plenty of front-foot ball due to a quality lineout performance - and Ireland would give away a penalty.
Laporte said Ireland were a good team. Maybe six months ago they were, but this is a team whose decline is so rapid it is like watching a sandcastle give in to the tide.
Paul O'Connell, the lock whose input can be so immense that it makes his effort yesterday all the more perplexing, wore the visage of a broken man after the match.
He admitted Ireland would need a miracle to progress.
"I think we have good players and I think we can do it but we need to find our form," he said. "On current form it [qualifying for the quarterfinals] would be a miracle.
"With the standards we've set for the team over the past year it's definitely possible but we need to find those standards again."
Because, as Laporte could tell them, right now they're teetering over the abyss.
