France open Six Nations title defence with statement victory over Ireland

The depleted visitors were duly outclassed as Antoine Dupont marked his first international match since rupturing knee ligaments in Dublin 11 months ago by leading Les Bleus to a statement success.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey resumed the fine form which saw him crowned player of the championship in 2025 with two tries, either side of scores from Matthieu Jalibert and Charles Ollivon.

Ireland eventually hit back through quick-fire consolations from replacements Nick Timoney and Michael Milne, converted by Sam Prendergast.

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But, despite a powerful impact from the Irish bench, France completed the job through wing Theo Attissogbe, with full-back Thomas Ramos landing a penalty and four conversions.

Pockets of travelling fans peppered a partisan home crowd as Ireland returned to the French capital for the first time since their agonising quarter-final exit to New Zealand at the 2023 World Cup.

The away team were carved open inside two minutes, only for French lock Ollivon to knock on within touching distance of the tryline following Bielle-Biarrey’s chipped pass.

Ireland initially responded well but there was no reprieve 11 minutes later.With claims of a forward pass in the build-up, electric wing Bielle-Biarrey beat three players to cross on the left after fly-half Prendergast volleyed the ball into play instead of conceding touch.

Wing Tommy O’Brien was forced to dot down behind his own line after being put under pressure by a poor pass from Prendergast and, from the resulting five-metre scrum, Dupont slipped in half-back partner Jalibert for a simple score.

In the first championship curtain-raiser to be played on a Thursday – to avoid a clash with Friday’s opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics – the one-way traffic continued.

Ramos slotted a penalty before Ollivon finished a fine team try as France ended a dominant opening period 22-0 in front.

Fabien Galthie’s side had the bonus point in the bag within seven minutes of the restart courtesy of the jet-heeled Bielle-Biarrey again bursting clear down the left.

With the contest approaching the hour mark, Ireland appeared in serious danger of suffering the humiliation of being nilled.

Flanker Timoney touched down after Stuart McCloskey broke the line to prevent that fate before prop Milne powered over three minutes later to spark slim hopes of a comeback with his first international try.

Ireland were in the ascendancy for large parts of the final quarter.Yet they were unable to make further dents on the scoreboard and succumbed to defeat in their opening Six Nations fixture for the first time since 2021 after French wing Attissogbe dived over at the death.