The explosive reasons behind the brawl at the end of the Irish vs. France World Cup game in Dublin on Saturday have been revealed.

After the game, French player Lasanna Diarra refused to shake hands with Irish player Keith Andrews and said ' F-- off Irish pr--- to him adding '"You're out," referring to the 1-0 first leg victory for France.

Diarra's insult is bound to set the stage for an explosive second game in Paris when Ireland must claw back the French goal if they are to qualify for the World Cup in South.

After the game on Saturday, Andrews lunged at the French player and defender Richard Dunne also tried to get at Diarra before being led away by French captain Thierry Henry.

Speaking on Sunday, Andrews said of his clash with Diarra: 'It was a disrespectful comment which typifies them, to be honest. It was typical of him and the way he was.

"There was a bit of niggle in the game but that happens. When the final whistle went, I saw him walking towards me and I thought he was going to shake my hand.

"Then he made a remark and, to be fair, I lost my head a bit. The manager has said he insulted Irish people, which is about accurate.

"You don't expect that from a professional. This playoff is only half-finished, and for a person to come out with something like that, it's very disappointing. Our lads are aware of it so we'll see what happens. I don't think it'll take any extra motivation to win it. There's a World Cup place at stake.'

Manager Giovanni Trapatonni could not bring himself to repeat the insult. I cannot say the sentence," Trapattoni said. "It was very bad. It was a famous player. I was surprised."

"I hear many players on the pitch many times make bad gestures."

"I name the sin and not the sinner," Trapattoni said.

Goalkeeper Shay Given meanwhile issued a rallying cry before Wednesday's match.

"Do you feel sorry for yourself?' he said, "or do you get your head down? We're disappointed and they had a bit of luck with the goal, so that's a kick in the teeth, but we have to go for it.

"We had to score a goal in the two legs and that's the same now. If we grab one out there, it's game on. There is a lot to play for yet. They will think they have gone through already but hopefully we'll have something to say about that.'