IF only Ireland didn't concede those 43 points, eh?

We witnessed a bizarre game of rugby at the Stade de France yesterday and at the end there were more questions pending than before.

Are this French team still struggling for form even though they scored six tries and 43 points yesterday? Was the last 30 minutes the first signs of the maturing of Ireland's wide game or did it only come about because the French were switched off?

Also, who's game plan were Ireland playing to in the second half?

The truth is there are no definitive answers to any of those questions and each side in the battle will no doubt spin it whatever way suits them.

All in all, it's easier to look at the facts. The result of this game was decided by the 48th minute, if not before, when David Marty's second try gave France a 43-3 lead. Ireland were dead on their feet, no question, and had they been playing either New Zealand or England the defeat would have been much heavier. But the French, oh, the French.

How we love them and loath them in equal measure and yesterday they decided 43 points was enough and they were thinking about the night ahead in various Paris hot spots.

Now, all that may seem a bit harsh on Ireland's four tries in the space of 15 second-half minutes, and true, there was a brief period after Andrew Trimble's try that it looked as though they could actually have went on to win the game, but it never would have happened had France not been so far ahead. A condemned team, just like a condemned man, has a different way of looking at a game when they know it's really all over.

So how do we go about describing the rest?

Well, to break things down simply, five of France's six tries had their birth in Irish errors, many of them well out of place at this level. That's not to say that Ireland weren't unlucky at times in the first 50 minutes. They were, and at times it appeared that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Murphy's law is the short synopsis of that last sentence, and appropriately enough, Geordan Murphy was involved in parts of it, but Ronan O'Gara, Shane Horgan, Denis Leamy and Tommy Bowe all made their personal contributions to the Irish downfall too.

The first nightmare occurred when Ireland were milled off the ball on their own scrum and France decided to spin the ball wide.

Tommy Bowe, following plans no doubt, shot up to tackle Florian Fritz but unfortunately the Ulster wing slipped just before he reached his man and the centre was able to release Aurelian Rougerie.

The beefy wing cantered down the right touchline, brushing past a couple of despairing Irish tackles on the way. Five-nil France.

Ireland proceeded to dominate the next five minutes, with both Ronan O'Gara and Denis Leamy threatening the French line, but after the outhalf had kicked the ball dead, Cedric Heymans took a quick drop out and in the blink of an eye, Geordan Murphy, Shane Horgan and Frederic Michalak were grappling on the ground for the ball inside the Irish 22. The Irish pair, through no fault of their own, managed to get in each others way, allowing the off-form French out-half to collect the ball and release Olivier Magne for a second simple try.

And if you thought that try was simple, the third French effort was easier still. After putting the ball through a couple of phases, the Irish backline weren't in the same post code as they should have been, forcing O'Gara to kick for touch for some relief. The out-half 's effort, though, was blocked by an enthusiastic David Marty and the Perpignan centre picked up the rebound to stroll to the line. It was getting ugly.

O'Gara and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde exchanged penalties before the interval but then came catastrophe number four. Again it was grounded in an Irish error as Murphy attempted to lob a 30 yard pass to Horgan, only for Heymans to nip in for the intercept and a handy stroll to the line. Elissalde's conversion left Ireland 29-3 down at the break and it was more of the same for the opening 10 minutes of the second-half. A break by Marty in midfield and a beautifully floated pass by Elissalde put Heymans away in the left-hand corner and three minutes later, the O'Gara and Marty party piece performed an encore as the centre this time blocked and collected the out-half 's kick in one swoop on his way to the line.

And then Ireland began shoot from the hip, albeit with the French already sipping a few beers at the OK Coral.

First of all, Peter Stringer put O'Gara away under the posts after a quick tap by Leamy, and then Gordon D'Arcy rounded Fabien Pelous on the outside for a second Irish try in the space of five minutes.

Nine minutes from time Donncha O'Callaghan, who made quite an impact after coming on for Malcolm O'Kelly, barged his way over from five yards, and from nowhere, Ireland were back to within 19 points of France. That margin was down to 12 with six minutes on the clock as a searing O'Driscoll break was finished off by Andrew Trimble.

It was all scarcely believable. If it wasn't for those 43 points f if, if, if.

SCORING SEQUENCE 2 mins Rougerie try, 5-0 7 mins Magne try, Elissalde con, 12-0 17 mins Marty try, Elissalde con, 19-0 27 mins O'Gara pen, 19-3 29 mins Elissalde pen, 22-3 34 mins Heymans try, Elissalde con, 29-3 43 mins Heymans try, Elissalde con, 36-3 47 mins Marty try, Elissalde con, 43-3 56 mins O'Gara try, con, 4310 60 mins D'Arcy try, O'Gara con, 43-17 65 mins O'Callaghan try, O'Gara con, 43-24 62 mins Trimble try, O'Gara con, 43-31