KEY POINTS:
Ireland came to this tournament with high hopes but left Stade de France yesterday clinging to their calculators. When they punch through all the permutations they'll find, too, that the numbers offer little solace.
Two tries to Vincent Clerc, the right winger who is proving Ireland's tormentor-in-chief these days after snatching a last-minute winner at Croke Park earlier this year, and a swag of penalties to man-of-the-match halfback Jean-Baptiste Elissalde condemned Brian O'Driscoll's men to an ugly defeat.
But it is the lack of bonus points that could really come back to damage them when they meet Argentina in a crunch match here next weekend (see box). Essentially, they need to win, and win well, and at this juncture that looks as likely as a Dubliner forsaking Guinness in favour of Evian water.
The Irish camp has been beset by rumours and innuendo this week. French sports daily L'Equipe claimed first five-eighths Ronan O'Gara was having gambling difficulties, a claim the Irish camp have given no credence to.
O'Driscoll said the words had been used as motivation: "Those allegations were adding fuel to the fire. It wasn't as if we needed any more motivation after what happened at Croke Park."
Ironically, it was the extra motivation and the fact they were "up for it" that might have backfired.
Coach Eddie O'Sullivan was at a loss as to how his side, usually so disciplined, had given away more penalties by halftime than they had targeted for the match. In a refreshing turn, he refused to blame referee Chris White.
"He's a good referee. We've had him a number of times," O'Sullivan said. "We must have been doing something wrong. Our discipline is normally excellent but today it was really killing us.
"I've always felt he is a good ref. If he felt we were infringing, then we were infringing and we have to live with that.
"Maybe because we'd had such a big build-up to the game we got a bit too fired up at times and crossed the line at breakdowns."
Elissalde kicked five penalties from six attempts, four of them before the break, destroying the Irish game-plan of getting their noses in front and pressuring France into mistakes.
It is a tough time to be Green. As well as the O'Gara 'story' though, there were rumours of unrest in the camp, with the Irish again forced to deny claims talented fullback Geordan Murphy was on the verge of leaving their camp in Bordeaux.
The Ireland squad have been disappointed by the dreary nature of their surrounds, it has been reported, and Murphy has been even more disappointed by his non-selection. Yesterday Girvan Dempsey was again preferred to him at the back.
While there is an element of truth that rumours like this don't surface out of happy camps, surely the only relevant issue facing the men in green is that their side has played eye-avertingly badly for much of the 240 minutes they have been on the field.
The fact they spent the last few minutes of their match against Georgia defending their own tryline in an effort to avoid an historic defeat shows how far their stocks have plummeted since they arrived in France as one of the tournament favourites - a tag somewhat unjustified given they never progressed out of the quarterfinals at this tournament and their last Six/Five Nations title was in the early 1980s.
Remember the French, one romp against a 14-man Namibia aside, have hardly been in sparkling form themselves. That victory barely salved the nation of its collective hurt after the opening night loss to Argentina.
So it was hardly surprising that the match yesterday got off to such a messy and, at times, undignified start.
Frederic Michalak and O'Gara engaged in a kicking duel for position that saw neither of them strike one cleanly after a dozen punts.
Ireland had clearly watched the Argentina match and thought they'd found a blueprint. However, the kicking just wasn't good enough. Say what you like about O'Gara in general play but he is usually a beautiful striker of a Gilbert. Perhaps L'Equipe got to him?
He shanked one out on the full, mis-directed his bombs and botched his first shot at goal from a handy position. Michalak was no better. The one-time pin-up boy of French rugby is a tenuous selection these days. One atrocious decision to run back an aimless O'Gara kick put his side in unnecessary peril.
The difference was that Michalak got his game together behind a dominant pack, particularly in the second half, O'Gara never did aside from one neat drop goal.
Elissalde kept adding to his tally before a clever kick (finally) from Michalak caught Ireland napping on the blind and Clerc made no mistake. He had more work to do with his second but was no less impressive.
By this point Ireland were shot to pieces. Even their set piece was chronically unwell.
Paul O'Connell's sinbinning in the 64th minute was pitiful but, sadly, indicative of where Ireland are at.
World Cup
France 25
Ireland 3
