Ciara Griffin column: Ireland can't let ill-discipline stand in their way in France

In her BBC Sport NI column, former captain Ciara Griffin explains why Ireland must improve their discipline if they are to take anything away from Saturday's daunting trip to France.

There will have been some home truths in Ireland's post-match analysis after the Wales defeat.

Losing a Six Nations opener is always tough, but Ireland ​will be disappointed with the way they let the Welsh back into the game ​in the second half.

It had looked promising for Ireland for a while. In the first 20 minutes, Ireland absorbed a lot of Welsh pressure, their defensive set was quite strong and they looked settled after Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe's opening try.

But ultimately, Ireland conceded too many penalties and their ill-discipline cost them the game.

You always talk about keeping the penalty count in single digits so giving away 14 was asking for trouble at times and, as a result, stopped Ireland from building momentum.

The strength of the Wales bench was a big factor, too. Donna Rose came on at tighthead and scored two really important tries.

Sioned Harries came on at eight and stabilised the back row. Harries was clinical at keeping the ball in at scrum time, forcing referee Kat Roche to call those scrum penalties against Ireland and give Wales good attacking platforms inside the Irish 22.

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There were positive takeaways for Ireland, too. Sam Monaghan had a fantastic game at second row. She's really dynamic and physical in her work-rate, but also her offloading game, she has brilliant hands which allow her to keep the ball alive.

Eve Higgins did well at 13, too. She made some really good gainline, her carries really fought through contact and got the ball in good platform.

Katie O'Dwyer did well in her first start at tighthead and made some good tackles and kept the line, while Nicole Cronin added different aspects to the attack and put players into space in different ways.

And it was a proud day for Nichola Fryday and her family after leading the team out for the first time. I thought she carried herself really well, had good communication with the referee and her team and really tried to drive Ireland on.

Now it's on to France. There is no two ways about it: travelling to Toulouse and getting a result is a big ask.

As I said, there would have been some home truths after the Wales game, but the Irish players would have been holding their hands up that they let some areas slip against Wales. They won't be hiding away from that.

France love being at home, they're very proud of their home grounds - and they look a solid unit once again this year.

But Ireland just need to focus on playing their style of rugby, tighten a few areas in defence and neutralise the areas in attack more. If they do that, they'll get some points on the board.

Ireland will be looking at line-out time in defence, and working to nail down clear system for defending the maul. France will target the maul because they'll have seen the change Wales got from their rolling maul. Eliminating that threat will be key to Ireland's chances.

Also, against Wales, a lot of the penalties came from Ireland players not rolling away. When you see the ball exposed you're going to go for it, but you have to read the situation that if your player isn't rolling away, you have to know to leave that ball, fan out and set the defensive line.

'France are full of playmakers'

In attack, Ireland will maybe look to snap down the line more. There were options at the weekend, the blind was on and there were a few overlaps at times, so that's something they can do to keep the French honest.

Set-piece execution will be another important factor. Ireland will hope to secure around 80% execution against one of the best teams in the world, and they will also be wary of the French pack.

Physically they're very strong but they're also dynamic for their size. They have very good ball skills and nearly everyone's a playmaker, while their back three are dynamic, cover the field well and are adept at drawing out defences and putting the ball into space to get that gainline.

Italy did well in the first half against France, but Les Bleues' quality eventually shone through.

Emeline Gros did really well and captain Gaelle Hermet was strong again. France have so much to choose from and have players coming back from injury, so they'll be looking to build on their win over Italy, come out firing and put down another solid performance.

Defeat in France would certainly dent Ireland's title hopes, but for this group, the campaign is about chasing collective improvement.

Ireland would have been targeting three home wins. Now they must ensure they win their two remaining home games against Italy and Scotland while achieving collective progression away to France and England.

Ciara Griffin was speaking to BBC Sport's Matt Gault