Ireland head coach Noel McNamara was left to rue a costly 10-minute second half spell in their World Rugby U-20 Championship defeat to France, but says the bonus point could prove crucial.
A blitz from Les Bleus just after half-time was enough to deny Ireland side a winning start to the tournament in Perpignan after taking a 17-5 lead into the interval.
The home side hit back quickly after the resumption and led 26-17, before Ireland managed a third try, but couldn’t find one last score as they went down 26-24 at Stade Aime-Giral.
"It’s very disappointing that we couldn’t get there in the end," McNamara told RTÉ Sport. "We put in a massive shift. That first half was excellent, we were really happy where we were going in at the break, though disappointed with the yellow card and try disallowed.
"We felt we were in a really strong position.
"We didn’t really deal with France’s onslaught. There was 10 minutes that were really, really costly. Still, you have to give the guys massive credit. They managed to put themselves into a position at the end of the game where we really felt we should have won it."
Ireland will play South Africa on Sunday in Narbonne and conclude their pool campaign against Georgia next Thursday and the head coach says that while in the aftermath of a narrow defeat a bonus point appears as little comfort, it could prove crucial to their aspirations in the competition.
"It’s scant consolation at this stage, but we might look back on it as a valuable bonus point.
"There are teams in the past that have lost their first game and still gone on to have very big tournaments."
