And crumbled appears to be a very apt word, particularly in the face of yesterday's performance, a game that promised so much in the build-up but delivered something less than even the worst we could have imagined beforehand.

Obviously enough, it's not the ideal preparation for a trip to Paris and it's not overstating the matter to say that a similar effort on Saturday might have us watching the game through the cracks of our fingers.

The last time Ireland played at the Stade de France in February 2004, it summed up, probably more than any other game, the conservatism and lack of ambition of the O'Sullivan era that we'd become used to until this apparent new dawn.

That afternoon, the team actually appeared afraid to have a go at France. It was almost as though their sole ambition was damage limitation. The strange thing was they had almost complete control of the first 20 minutes . . . pinning the French pack deep inside their own 22 . . . but a lack of imagination, and the sheer stubbornness in continually throwing to Paul O'Connell at two in the line-out during that period, saw them emerge from that quarter with just three points to their name. A bit more imagination in the gameplan and it could have been a different match entirely.

Still, 35-17 wasn't a disaster by any means and, as we know, Ireland went on to win all their remaining games in that tournament to claim the Triple Crown. It was just such a pity that they didn't have the confidence to actually have a go at France in that first game and set up a potential Grand Slam season.

It's now six years since Warren Gatland's Ireland went to the Stade de France and played some remarkable rugby to beat the home side 27-25 (arguably the greatest performance from the international side in the professional era) and eight years since the New Zealander changed the tide of Irish rugby by battening down the hatches and losing by just two points to an all-singing, all-dancing French side in his very first game in charge.

The current coach, in comparison, has hardly laid a finger on Les Bleus in Paris since he took charge, losing 44-5 back in 2002 and we've already spoken about the lack of ambition visible during Ireland's last visit. This time, though, the stakes are considerably higher than either of those previous games, particularly for the coach.

For France, there's still the matter of today's visit to Edinburgh, a game that's not a formality by any stretch of the imagination. Under the leadership of Frank Hadden, things have become a hell of a lot more pragmatic in Scotland.

For example, where once the international players trained two days every week as a squad all through the season, now the chosen ones simply meet up during the normal international weeks to fine-tune their preparations. It appears to have made the entire squad a lot happier with what they're doing and let's not forget they have some fine players in their ranks. The likes of Simon Taylor, Jason White and Rory Lamont would walk into most sides in the Six Nations and France will have to be on guard today, particularly as the game is on in Murrayfield.

The French, as is clear by this stage, aren't the best travellers in the world but the advent of the Heineken Cup has opened up most of their players to new experiences. They should win this one and how much they actually do it by will give a truer indication of what Ireland will face on Saturday.

Still, no matter what France do today, nobody really expects Ireland to go over to Paris and win. But what the Irish rugby fraternity do hope is that O'Sullivan's team go out on the pitch and have a real go at the home side, come what may. The Stade de France is hardly an intimidating arena . . . Ronan O'Gara even listed it as his favourite venue recently . . . and if the home side don't fire early on, their fickle supporters are never slow to turn on them. A full-throttle start could really disturb the home side but as we've said, at the very least they need to have a go.

RBS SIX NATIONS FRANCE v IRELAND Saturday, Stade de France, 1.30 Referee P Honiss (NZ) Live, RTE Two, BBC1, 1.00