D Monday, February 15, 2010 SPORT 27 We wont throw in towel despite Bleu battering Gordon dArcy admits Ireland face a week of soul-searching after their brutal reality check in Saturdays 33-10 rout by France. The champions saw their Grand Slam defence crumble during a de- pressingly familiar afternoon in Paris which exposed the gulf in class be- tween the title rivals. France were outstanding as they re- duced Ireland, previously unbeaten in 12 matches spanning 15 months, to a demoralised rabble. While the odds have now shortened on the pre-championship favourites completing the Grand Slam, declan Kidneys side must reflect on another painful visit to the French capital. The inquest will begin in earnest to- day but with fixtures against England, Wales and Scotland to come, dArcy refuses to concede the title. A reality check, a kick in the ass you can put 100 different names on that result, he said. We got right a lot of things that we did wrong against Italy last weekend, but were slack in other areas. We know what we have to do now and next week will be a fairly honest week, to say the least. Weve got to roll with the punches. The championship is still open. All we can do now is try and win our re- maining games while hoping some- body nicks one against France. Frances ability to self-destruct en- sures Ireland are justified in refusing to throw in the towel but Les Bleus finally appear to mean business. They bossed the try-count 3-1 and were 17-3 ahead by half-time. A 15-point haul from scrum-half Morgan Parra, who accused Ireland of being cheats amid a dismissive pre- match assessment of his opponents, only rubbed salt into the wound. Fired up despite the sub-zero tem- perature, Ireland threatened twice in an encouraging opening quarter with the impressive dArcy denied a try only by a cruel bounce of the ball. But their efforts were marred by the sin-binning of cian Healy, while Jer- ry Flannery was lucky to stay on the pitch after his outrageous lunge on winger Alexis Palisson. david Wallace finished a beautiful- ly-executed move in the 65th minute but in the end Ireland were thrashed and dArcy leaves no doubt where the blame lies. Look at Frances body language body during that first 20 minutes, we were all upright and they had their hands on their knees, but we just didnt capitalise and then the error rate started increasing. We had them under pressure and they were beginning to creak but then we let them out of it. We probably made the highest number of unforced errors in a long time. Little errors accumulated. France can shift and put pace on the ball. We can do better than this but we shot ourselves in the foot. Grounded: Skipper Brian ODriscoll takes a tumble after clashing with Frances Morgan Parra RUGBY RBS 6 NATIONS By John Donnelly 19 number of unforced errors made by wasteful Ireland in Paris We had them under pressure but then we let them out of it Powell arrested after buggy drive WALES forward Andy Powell was arrested after allegedly driving a golf buggy towards a motorway hours after his teams RBS 6 Nations win over Scotland. The 28- year-old (pictured), was arrested along with another man at a service station near junction 34 of the M4, close to Wales team hotel. Inspector Tony McAlinden of South Wales Police said: One of the males subsequently failed a breathalyser test. ALun Wyn Jones believes Wales rBS 6 nations campaign is back on track after their dramatic last-gasp victory against Scotland. The visitors looked to be heading for their first win in cardiff since 2002 before Stephen Joness 79th minute penalty squared the game at 24-24, and Shane Williams went under the posts with the last move of the match. But despite the wild celebrations sparked by Williams 49th try, Wales were outplayed for an hour, and with France up next in cardiff, Warren Gatland and his coaching team will have plenty to say once the dust has settled on a true classic. We are Welsh, and weve always got hope, said Jones. After the penalty had brought us level, a couple of the boys thought it would be a draw and that was that but in the end, we got there. Even though it was a poor overall performance, the win itself will give us a positive step. Wales are back on track, says Jones Surgery: Thom Evans SCOTLAND have been left counting the cost of one of their most deflating defeats in Six Nations history. Wing Thom Evans is recovering in a Cardiff hospital from neck surgery after he was carried off during the 31-24 loss to Wales. Chris Paterson is in the same hospital with kidney damage and the early indications are the full-back might not play again until mid-April. Scotland have also revealed wing Rory Lamont has a knee ligament injury. Scotland team doctor James Robson said: Thom had sustained slippage to one of the vertebrae, and that required to be eased back into place. The surgeons are pleased with his progress, Thom has movement in his arms and legs. He will remain at the hospital today, and if he continues to progress he will be allowed to travel back to Scotland into the care of the Glasgow Warriors medical team later this week. Injuries add to misery for downcast Scotland Depth key to French success Lievremont FRANCE coach Marc Lievremont believes his countrys strength in depth could prove crucial in their bid to land the 2010 RBS 6 Nations crown. Lievremonts men hardened as title favourites following an impressive 33-10 demolition of last years grand-slam champions Ireland at Stade de France. Lievremont was forced to bring in new wingers after Aurelien Rougerie and Benjamin Fall were hurt in the opening win over Scotland and both their deputies, Vincent Clerc and Alexis Palisson, went off with injuries on Saturday. However, Lievremont (pictured) remains unconcerned and believes the crop of injuries will justify his controversial and much- criticised policy of rotation. We have a lot of injuries but one of the reasons we came up with a group of 30 to 40 players was to enable us to have quality players coming out of the bench, he said. How many countries could maintain the same level with a high number of injuries? Skipper Thierry Dusautoir admitted the forwards took their game to new heights in Paris. The French scrum has been producing some great performances this past month or so, he said. When we played against the All Blacks maybe we were even more powerful but we were not as smart. We tried to play both ways and that is what made it a great satisfaction. We gave away less fouls and were very patient we know how important that is at international level. It put a lot of pressure on the Irish team and we managed to maintain that momentum throughout the game. Picture: AP index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html