AS a symbol of Ireland’s overdue emergence from some gloomy days, perhaps it was appropriate that Gordon D’Arcy scored the try yesterday that finally killed off the French in what was a riveting Six Nations occasion.

Back in the big time after more than a year in an injury wilderness, D’Arcy’s role was only a cameo as Jamie Heaslip and Brian O’Driscoll led the way for the winners with outstanding performances, but when he lunged for the line after coming on as a replacement for Paddy Wallace, Ireland had at last separated themselves from opponents who at one stage had threatened to run them off the Croke Park sod.

D’Arcy’s dramatic return to the international arena meant that with a quarter of an hour remaining, France now had to score twice. Not surprisingly they threatened, but by this stage, O’Driscoll and his teammates were positively brimming with self-belief.

You couldn’t say there weren’t one or two nerve-wracking moments as the dark blue jerseys poured forward, yet you felt that for a change, Ireland were in control of their destiny. If the victory wasn’t altogether perfect, it was particularly sweet following seven defeats by the French in the space of six years.

Recent history aside, this result goes some way to erasing the memory of Vincent Clerc’s dagger to the heart in 2007, and now Declan Kidney and his squad have some real momentum going into next Sunday’s game against Italy in Rome.

For a while yesterday all the controversy over the ELVs was forgotten. Because this was a titanic match that yielded five tries, bulging for its 80 minutes with magic and muscle. At times, France seemed irresistible as the brilliant Maxime Medard, Julien Malzieu and Yannick Jauzion counterattacked with pace and invention.

And at times, they butchered chances with some terrible handling, but there was never any doubt over their intent. Marc Lievremont may have regarded last year’s championship as a test tube, however, this was no experiment. If it won’t be a vintage season for the French as their front five are nowhere near menacing enough, they well and truly turned up yesterday.That makes the Irish triumph all the more worth savouring. Even if France did manage to create a fair bit of havoc, the home defence was heroic. Only Ronan O’Gara, who kicked 15 points but had a quiet game by his standards, suffered the embarrassment of being bounced a couple of times. From the tireless Luke Fitzgerald out on the left all the way through to David Wallace, the winners’ tackling couldn’t have been faulted.

There were plenty of hurlers on the ditch who reckoned that Denis Leamy should have got the nod yesterday given Heaslip’s modest form, however, the number eight more than justified his selection with a storming display. If his try coming up to the interval was engineered by Paul O’Connell’s soaring line-out take and a couple of half-breaks by Rob Kearney and Tommy Bowe, Heaslip was still able to spot in the heat of the moment that he was one-on-one with the tight head, Benoit Lecouls. He then had the confidence to surge through the gap before beating off the challenges of Clement Poitrenaud and Malzieu for a wonderful try.

Meanwhile, everyone who had held forth on O’Driscoll’s waning powers were forced to park their doubts at the start of the second half. Admittedly, Lionel Beauxis’s attempted tackle left much to be desired, but when he connected with O’Gara’s pass, the blistering acceleration of old was there once again.

Out in clear water and showing the ball for a possible pass, O’Driscoll sensed Malzieu covering across and he left the wing for dead with the most sumptuous of sidesteps. This sublime 33rd international try of his career might just be his most important as another Lions tour looms into view.

There was much more from the captain this time as well. His defence, especially in the first half, was astonishing. Tackle after tackle, a shuddering hit on Beauxis, and a turnover he had no right to win when engulfed by French forwards was evidence if evidence was needed of his immense value to the side.

In addition to so much good Croke Park vibrations, Ireland were also able to win this time without the sort of stellar contributions we’ve come to expect from David Wallace and O’Connell. The jury is still out on Paddy Wallace who was no more than adequate, and once Keith Earls regains fitness, there will be an understandable clamour to add to team’s attacking threat.

The move that led to Imanol Harinordoquy’s try in the 14th minute started with Florian Fritz running over O’Gara, and in the end, Bowe could have done more to prevent Malzieu offloading to the flanker who had a sensational first half.

As France were dominating territory, Heaslip’s try came against the run of play and Ireland were probably fortunate to be 13-10 ahead at the break. However, when the margin increased to 10 points following O’Driscoll’s magnificent individual score, there was a feeling that the home side could pull away from France.

But after a Harinordquy surge upfield, Beauxis spotted that Medard was up against the recently introduced Rory Best out on the right, and when the out-half’s kick bounced perfectly, the try was a formality.

Beauxis narrowed the gap to just two points with his second drop goal, however, as Ireland pressed once again, the match was effectively decided when D’Arcy held off Thierry Dusautoir’s challenge to claim his try.

D’Arcy is back, and so are Ireland.

Scoring sequence2 mins O’Gara pen 3-0 14 mins Harinordoquy try, Beauxis con 3-7 17 mins O’Gara pen 6-7 34 mins Heaslip try, O’Gara con 13-7 40+1 mins Beauxis drop goal 13-10 43 mins O’Driscoll try, O’Gara con 20-10 50 mins Medard try 20-15 53 mins Beauxis drop goal 20-18 65 mins D’Arcy try, O’Gara con, 27-18 76 mins Beauxis pen 27-21 78 mins O’Gara pen 30-21