Wynne Gray: In battle of power, David proves too strong for Goliath

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They duelled all night in what should have been an uneven contest ... Fabien Galthie, the oldest and one of the smallest in the French side at 86kg, against huge Irish No 8 Victor Costello, who is 32kg heavier than the French halfback and captain.

Costello has all the bulk which took him as a shotput champion to the Barcelona Olympics, the power needed to cart the ball off the back of the scrum or rumble into midfield.

But Galthie, the schemer, the director, the French leader in his fourth World Cup, showed might is not right - certainly not at Telstra Dome in Melbourne in early November.

As the French scrum revved up its power and shunted Ireland, Costello was forced into all sorts of repair work at the back of the scrum.

But his lack of agility, his ponderous decisions, were Sunday meat-and-drink for Galthie.

He harassed the Irishman, tipped him up if he tried to pick and go, kicked the ball out from under his legs or hassled opposing halfback Peter Stringer if the ball squeezed out to him.

If the disappointingly small crowd of just over 33,000, most of them clad in emerald green, were quiet early on, they had subsided to a whimper at the break.

Much was made of Ireland's rise in the (IRB's Guinness-fuelled) ratings to third before this tournament and a record of 18 wins from 21 tests leading into last night.

They had beaten France three times out of the last four, including the latest 15-12 win at Lansdowne Rd this year. We were told Ireland were much more than just Keith Wood or Brian O'Driscoll. They had shelved the frantic forward methods followed by the Garryowens, they had moved into the modern era.

Not as much as France.

All round the ground, from the concrete-mixers to the dainty-stepping wings, they delivered bludgeoning power with rapier-like speed. It was embodied beautifully by their back-row trio of Imanol Harinordoquy, Olivier Magne and Serge Betsen.

For a start they are a trio of gifted athletes, they all have great pace, strength and the searing competitiveness needed in top-class loose-forwards.

Magne is the ball-scavenging support flanker with a roving commission, which he showed in the opening minutes with a try.

Betsen's defensive work is colossal, his tackle-count high and damaging, as Irish first five-eighths Ronan O'Gara would attest to after an early meeting with the Cameroon-born flanker.

Of the trio, Harinordoquy has the potential to be the best and may have achieved that status already. His vision laid on two tries. He scored another, was unchallenged in the lineout, raided mightily and did not shirk his defensive duties.

This first live look at France was undeniable. They defended brutally and put huge numbers into their support play and attack. They used the width of the stadium. Decoy runners and switches exerted huge pressure on the Irish defence.

It was the sign of a self-assured side, one comfortable with their game, sure of their strategies and confident in one another.

Former French international Thomas Castaignede suggested this was France's first test of the tournament and he was worried at the widespread expectation of a win.

"France have not been stretched at all in the past month; it has basically been warming up," he wrote in a newspaper column.

While time, injury and tired legs removed Castaignede from the tournament, Frederick Michalak has been a revelation at five-eighths. A club halfback, he has shifted out a place in smug unison with his captain. He kicks goals and has the vision to run a backline.

It was a game too far for Ireland. They did not even give their lovable loser tag a shake.

It was left to their thousands of supporters to drown the pints and come up with a raft of excuses, like the one already doing the rounds before the final whistle.

Aliens, apparently, had abducted the Irish side from the dressing room and left their offspring to play in the green jerseys of Ireland.

That was the reason for the defeat and was certainly more believable than the way Ireland were allowed to play.

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