D'Arcy: We'll bounce back
Wednesday February 17 2010
GORDON D'ARCY has vowed that Ireland will bounce back following their first defeat in 15 months.
With back-toback Grand Slams now out of the question, having lost lost 33-10 to France, D'Arcy says that Ireland have not given up hope of landing the championship.
D'Arcy almost scored a cheeky try after 17 minutes on Saturday last. Making a delightful break in midfield, as he swerved his way through the French cover, he kicked over the head of the advancing full-back but, when he looked like winning the race for the touchdown, the bounce of the ball denied him.
The Wexford man was one of Ireland's best backs and top players overall, looking dazzling in the centre, while he still looked comfortable when switched to the wing following an injury to Rob Kearney that led to a re-shuffle. He was also involved in the lead up to David Wallace's second-half try.
D'Arcy said: 'This is a reality check. There's already an attitude in the dressing room about the opportunity the next match presents. 'We've lost one match and it's backs to the wall, but all we can do is control what we can control.
'All we can control is trying to beat England, Wales and Scotland, and then hope that someone nicks one against France. The focus for us remains on what we can achieve,' he added. 'There's no point in talking about the what-ifs. There are plenty of other issues from the game, stuff that went right or wrong for us.
'You look at the body language on the pitch after the first 20 minutes. We were all upright, and they were hands on knees. We just didn't capitalise on that, and then error rates started increasing.
'We kept pressure on and they were just beginning to creak when we let them off. Little errors cost us.'
At least Ireland have time to rescue their season, a fact not lost on the bang in form centre.
- BRENDAN FURLONG
