Game of two halves gets Irish over line

Two hours before kick-off at Lansdowne Road yesterday we had one of those downpours that had a mid-winter feel to it. If it continued it would close the door on a contest with as much tempo as grunt to it. But if it abated we might be in business for the latest instalment of what has become an interesting little rivalry between Ireland and France. It abated. And what we got was somewhere between the two.