The coaches tried to put their own perspective on the clash at the end of the match - and that is understandable - but Ireland made a lot of mistakes.

Ireland had a lot of ball but they struggled with their accuracy and a couple of players were really struggling with their game.

The French impressed me with their defence and the manner in which they played the game. They produced controlled rugby and I thought they played incredibly well considering the pressure they were under following the defeat to Scotland.

They were fully deserving of their 29-3 half-time lead and also their two scores after the interval, but Ireland raised their game in the second-half.

The French looked tired in the second period and their substitutions made a bit of a mockery of the contest - it could have been arrogance or they may have thought the game was totally dead, and this led to them having no structure in the second half.

The Welsh are the next challenge for Ireland and the Principality are in a little bit of turmoil at the moment with the resignation of coach Mike Ruddock.

Teams can react in two ways to losing their coach, it can have a galvanising effect and they can bounce back or it can go the other way, but I can not see Ireland making so many mistakes and I take them to win - especially at home.

Whether Gavin Henson comes back into the Welsh squad is debatable. Ireland, on the other hand, may make a couple of changes and Marcus Horan could come back into the team at prop.