Six Nations

The scoreline was looking a lot healthier when I took this photograph, right before Paddy Jackson missed this kick, than by match's end. In fairness, though, he had a much better game than the shocker against Scotland two weeks ago. He seems to be finding his feet.

I met three of the four other Irish people who are currently living in Gaza to watch the match in a windowless restaurant/alcohol-less sports "bar". I could hear my mother's voice in my head, as I shunned the sunshine to spend the afternoon indoors: "But it's a beautiful day outside!".

There was a birthday party going on in the room next door, so we were straining to hear the Irish commentary (thank you, Al Jazeera Sport!) over the loud Arabic pop music.

About ten minutes after I took this photo, there was a brief power cut. Spookily, everything in the place switched off except for the one television we were watching the match on. I'm not quite sure how to explain that one.

We had a good first half, with strong lineouts and a solid try from Heaslip, but seemed to completely lose control in the second, and a few of our players took a beating. I felt like the referee was working against us in the scrums as well. The game ended 13-13, but France were lucky to get the draw.

It's been a very disappointing Six Nations overall, which is sad because it may be the last for two great legends, Brian O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara. I feel like it has been far too long now that I've found myself saying, 'Ah well, maybe next year . . .'.