By Jim Stokes

Girvan Dempsey is under pressure from Tommy Bowe

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has some hard thinking to do.

It is not necessarily attempting to deny Wales a Grand Slam next week in Cardiff either.

Loyal to a fault, O'Sullivan will have to make tough calls if Ireland are to move further into the living room where only the elite can sit.

The architect of some recent famous Irish victories was visibly gutted after watching his own Grand Slam hopes grind to a halt against the French.

So has the present Ireland side reached its zenith?

O'Sullivan will not want to start to dissect his team just yet, but Cardiff could be the swansong for a number of players who have given their all over the past four seasons under his command.

After watching Wales cut apart Scotland with pace, guile and great continuity work, O'Sullivan knows what is needed to end a long, hard season on a high.

For a start, with Gordon D'Arcy a certainty to be ruled out, O'Sullivan will be looking to get Shane Horgan back up and running with a splinter on a fractured thumb.

That will be at the expense of Kevin Maggs who did his usual hard-working stock-in-trade stuff, but looked a shade off the pace. His 68th cap could have been his last.

Anthony Foley, Simon Easterby, Reggie Corrigan, Shane Byrne and Girvan Dempsey may also find their names on the former international list by the time the autumn internationals come around again.

Ireland certainly found out what French team turned up at Lansdowne Road ... a very good one

Foley, a brilliant servant at number eight since making a try-scoring debut against England a decade ago, is nearing the end of his international career.

The Munsterman, who has captained Ireland three times in his 60 appearances, still has the brain but the body is not as willing.

Easterby has not been the same since his Achilles operation the season before last, while Dempsey lacks that spark to light up a backline.

Eric Miller, Tommy Bowe, Gavin Duffy, Donnacha O'Callaghan, Marcus Horan and Frankie Sheahan are waiting to enter the arena on a more permanent basis.

For an hour on Saturday, France bullied Ireland with their piano movers combining with the piano players to play a tune that we have all heard from a dexterous Les Bleus side.

Yes, Ireland certainly found out what French team turned up ... a very good one.

The once acclaimed Ireland line-out was dissected. So often their starting point, Ireland were just unable to set-up a platform for the backs.

Despite the lavish talents of Brian O'Driscoll whose 27th try for his country was not only exquisite, but almost set up an amazing victory, Ireland could not negotiate an in-your-face defence.

Anthony Foley's international career is nearing an end

The 26-19 reverse was bad enough, but to see the French actually taking a lap of honour around Lansdowne Road really rubbed it in.

To be honest, Ireland looked to be running on a half-full tank throughout the Six Nations. On Saturday, however, they ran out of diesel.

They struggled to defeat Italy, then managed to step up a ratchet against a poor Scottish outfit, before stealing victory from under the noses of England.

The real agonising point about the defeat is that there won't be another chance like it for a very long time.

The stars were in the right place for Ireland. The schedule was perfect.

France and England at home, after coming off an unbeaten run in the autumn, and a final game in Cardiff where in recent times, victory in Cheltenham week was a sure thing.