The next era of Irish rugby is upon us

A statement of intent, a new era and a victory on the road that will live long in the memory.

Ireland beat France in the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Friday night in the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations, and it was special.

France were favourites going into the game, and were expected to take advantage of the home draw, relying on their power and strength in depth throughout the squad.

Ireland, on the other hand, are entering a different phase with some high-profile retirements after the World Cup and some doubt surrounding their ability to hit the ground running this year.

How did Ireland go to Marseille and turn over the favourites in the competition?

The spotlight was on Paul O'Connell and the Irish lineout after a shaky World Cup performance. However, their response was immaculate, launching their attacking plays from various positions in the setpiece.

In a dominant opening half, Ireland were 9/9 on their own throw and their defensive effort meant that France were playing off scraps.

Tadhg Beirne and his forward pack turned over four of the French throws and disrupted their delivery on many others, neutralising the French attack.

This area of the game allowed Ireland to roll out their varied and effective wider attack plays, resulting in an early try off just two phases of attack. A short lineout with wide passes from Jamison Gibson-Park to Caelan Doris and another to Bundee Aki, feeding James Lowe on the tackle line allowed them to go at France in a wider channel.

The second phase was a simple tip pass from Robbie Henshaw to the rampaging Aki, who showed how important he is to Ireland’s attack by offloading back inside to Gibson Park. The scrum-half calmly sent Damian Penaud the other way with a dummy before