The French Media & Their Players React To Ireland’s Heroics Yesterday
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“Cruel, but fair.”
The French media have reacted to Ireland’s last-gasp win yesterday evening in Paris very admirable fashion. While they are devastated with the loss, they’ve universally admitted that Joe Schmidt’s men deserved their Six Nations victory at the Stade de France.
A headline in L’Equipe summed it up for ‘Du paradis à l’enfer’…. ‘From paradise to hell’, while another headline in the same paper lead with the words ‘Cruel mais juste’… ‘Cruel but fair.’
Centre Rémi Lamerat also admitted it was a “cruel” finish from a French perspective, but ultimately Ireland deserved their win.
“We cannot say that they stole their victory, far from it,” he said.
“We have seen all the experience, the mastery of this nation that is Ireland; one last play and no error….that’s what separates us from the big nations today.”
Skipper Guilhem Guirado was one of France’s star players on the day, making an incredible 28 tackles. He was also full of praise for Joe Schmidt’s men.
“We have seen the collective mastery of the Irish,” he said
Prop Dany Priso said:
“Even when we do not make a mistake, he (Sexton ) still manages to achieve his goals.”
Fullback Geoffrey Palis told L’Equipe:
“He’s tried from 50 yards because they couldn’t get closer and unfortunately, he succeeded.”
Sexton’s former Racing 92 teammate Teddy Thomas told L’Equipe:
“Just before we saw him on the ground with cramps. No doubt he has hidden his game well (laughs). He’s one of the best 10s in the world. He’s in good shape and he demonstrated that today.”
