Ireland head coach Declan Kidney and team captain Brian O’Driscoll were understandably gutted after suffering a shocking 33-10 defeat to France at the Stade De France.

Kidney paid tribute to the French for their outstanding performance when speaking after the game

“I give credit to France for their victory. I think any time you are beaten three tries to one, and there was probably one or two other chances they had – I think they played very well and I would like to complement them on that, ” he said.

“I think Paris is always a difficult place to come to, and when you go to 14 points behind very quickly and a result although the boys stayed with it we were ne ver able to make any in-roads.”

 
Love him or loath him the Mayfield messiah Roy Keane is always one who can ignite debate on most subjects -here’s his take on Le Main de Dieu by Thierry Henry AKA The Thief Of St Denis. Keane managed to keep his temper despite a reporters mobile phone going off during the interview-queue the thousand yard stare from the Saipan One.

 
Last night’s result is causing an International incident with thousands contacting FIFA via their website. The FAI petitioning for a replay and now Brian Cowen is to speak to the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, last seen congratulating the cheating  Henry. Cowen is in Brussels on EU business and told reporters that “Fairplay is very important in sport & we support the FAI’s bid to get the match replayed”. French Prime Minister Francois Filon has said that the Irish government shouldn’t be meddling in the affair. The FAI need the Federation Football De France (FFF) to back their call for a replay but the indications from their HQ at Charlerois is that they will resist any attempt to have the match replayed.

FAI Chief Executive, John Delaney says that it’s now up to FIFA and the French Football Federation to arrange a replay of last night’s World Cup play-off. The Association have written to the World governing body and their French counter-parts, asking for a rematch to be held, after the French via Thierry Henry’s hand ball goal qualified for the World Cup in South Africa. FIFA have already said that the result of the game cannot be reviewed and that they won’t be organising a replay. However, John Delaney says that if both requests are turned down, the Association will assess if they can take further action.

In a statement released today John Delaney says there is precedent for the invalidation of such results. He added, in 2005, the Bureau of the FIFA World Cup organising committee reached a decision to invalidate the result of a World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on the basis of a “technical error by the referee of the match. He also said if FIFA go by their morals of “fair play” they will do something about this.

Also it has emerged today Gillette have no plans to sack Thierry Henry following his role in ending the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup dream. A Gillette spokesman said: ‘Gillette is aware of what happened last night in the World Cup play-off game. Thierry Henry has publicly acknowledged it was a handball. ‘Gillette are not placed to comment on any refereeing decisions made in the match or any refereeing at all for that matter. ‘This is not going to affect our relationship with Thierry Henry.’

The Football Association of Ireland today (November 19) confirmed that it will lodge a complaint with FIFA, following last night’s World Cup play-off match between France and the Republic of Ireland in Paris.

Conclusive video evidence of a deliberate hand ball by Thierry Henry, which led to France’s additional time goal, has been seen by millions of football fans worldwide. The blatantly incorrect decision by the referee to award the goal has damaged the integrity of the sport and we now call on FIFA, as the world governing body for our sport, to organise for this match to be replayed. The hand ball, was recognised the FIFA commissioner, the referee observer and the match officials, as well as by the player himself.

There is precedent for the invalidation of such results. In 2005, the Bureau of the FIFA World Cup organising committee reached a decision to invalidate the result of a World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on the basis of a ‘technical error by the referee of the match’. The Football Association of Ireland is hoping that FIFA and its Disciplinary Committee will, on behalf of football fans world-wide, act in a similar fashion so that the standards of fair play and integrity can be protected.

Irish manager Giovanni Trappatoni has called for FIFA to change the rules for playoff matches. The veteran Italian believes that matches should go straight to penalties after the 180 minutes are up if the two sides are deadlocked.

Trap was forthright in his views over the biggest piece of gamesmanship against an Irish side since Neil Back cheated Munster in a European Cup final. He stated that the game was poorer for last night’s events and said that the sport had lost all credibility and called for FIFA to”Clarify the situation” He said that the integrity of the game was compromised last night. As anger grows over Thierry Henry’s blatant double handball which saw him guide a dead ball back into play before crossing for William Gallas to net their equaliser, Trappatoni could hardly disguise his fury as he fielded questions and wants the game’s governing bodies to examine one of the most blatant acts of gamesmanship seen in world football. Trap said that Henry’s actions were “indefensible” and called for a full inquiry from FIFA over the events in the 13th minute of extra time.

Trap revealed that some of his players were in tears after the final whistle after having played the game of their lives. He said that he was proud of all that his team had achieved saying that Ireland conducted themselves the right way throughout a difficult and tricky campaign.

Irish legend Liam Brady called for a replay but the Irish Assistant Manager’s plea has already fallen on deaf ears in Zurich.FIFA has confirmed that there is no chance of the game being replayed, stating that under law 5 in the official rules of the game the referee has ‘full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed,’ and that ‘the decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final.’ For many irish fans the thought will be that France have got away with one of the biggest robberies in sporting history some would say that a robber wears a mask- last night the façade slipped for Henry and the mask was visible as he cheated his way to a swansong World Cup finals as this tiny sporting nation grieves for the thoughts of what might have been in an African summer.

 
Australia Head Coach Robbie Deans and Captain Rocky Elsom give their views in the Post Match top-table press conference.

 
Ireland make an excellent start to their Guinness Autumn Test Series campaign with a 20-all draw against Australia at Croke Park on Sunday.

Head Coach Declan Kidney, Captain Brian O’Driscoll and debutant Cian Healy give their views in the Post Match top-table press conference.

After last nights heartbreaking defeat to France, Giovanni his side can overcome the odds and beat France on Wednesday.
 

 
Ireland and Australia Captains Run Press Conferences this morning ahead of tomorrow’s Guinness Test Series International at Croke Park.

At the RDS were Ireland Head Coach Declan Kidney and Captain Brian O’Driscoll

Meanwhile Qantas Wallabies Head Coach Robbie Deans and Rocky Elsom the Qantas Wallabies Captain gave their thoughts at the Burlington Hotel

 
Ireland rugby press conference with team manager Paul McNaughton and coaches Gert Smal and Les Kiss at the Shelbourne Hotel this afternoon ahead of their Autumn International Guinness Series 2009 match against Australia on Sunday.