Ireland suffer Paris pummelling in Six Nations opener

Ireland's concerning form has now been upgraded to worrying, with their Guinness Six Nations campaign starting with a 36-14 thrashing at the hands of France in Paris.

Back at the Stade de France, Andy Farrell’s side looked a shadow of the team that last came to the French capital during the World Cup in 2023, and with just over 18 months until the next edition, the gap between themselves and the game’s best appears to be growing.

Ponderous in attack and porous in defence, for the opening 50 minutes it looked like Ireland were playing a different sport to their hosts, who were at their exhilarating and unpredictable best.

Had it not been for a small second-half rally, the scoreline could have been more brutal.

Nick Timoney and Michael Milne came off the bench to score tries within a four-minute spell, but by then the damage was already done.

France were 22-0 in front by half time, and 29-0 ahead early in the second half when Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored his second try of the game, as Les Bleus ran rings around a floundering Irish defence for the opening 50 minutes, with Jamison Gibson-Park, Jacob Stockdale and Sam Prendergast all missing costly tackles.

Matthieu Jalibert (above) and Charles Ollivon also broke in for first half tries, with Ireland unable to cope with the pace and handling of their hosts, and while France took their foot off the gas for large portions of the second half, Theo Attissogbe’s try with the final play of the game painted a fairer picture of their dominance.

The opening minutes were dominated by kicking, although both sides came close to landing early tries.

There was a major scare on three minutes Bielle-Biarrey found space and chipped down the left wing, only for the ball to skid forward out of play. Moments later, a wonderful 50:22 from Jamie Osborne set Ireland on the attack, but Josh van der Flier’s knock-on handed possession back to the French.

The home side struck first on 12 minutes through a piece of magic from Bielle-Biarrey, or depending on your persuasion, some dreadful Irish tackling.

Quick hands from Yoram Moefana put the French wing into a pocket of space on the left wing, where Jamison Gibson-Park had given him too much room, and he slipped through the scrum-half's tackle.

Prendergast managed to clip the Bordeaux wing’s (below) heels, but he still managed to get back on his feet and ghost past Jacob Stockdale to score, with Ramos adding the extras to make it 7-0.

The champions were starting to dominate, and when Prendergast carried the ball back in over his own try-line, it gave the home side a scrum, from which they scored their second try on 21 minutes.

The score was all too easy, with the scrum nudging towards the blind side, with Dupont breaking and passing to Jalibert, and the French out-half coasted through a tame effort from Prendergast to make it 12-0.

Ramos missed the conversion, but he extended his side’s lead to 15-0 on 26 minutes, tapping over an easy three points after a mindless penalty at the breakdown, conceded by Joe McCarthy.

There was a flicker of light from Ireland just before the half-hour mark when a couple of grubbers from Osborne and Prendergast pinned the French in under their own posts, but Ramos recovered to end the danger, before the home side pulled further clear on 33 minutes.

There was a touch of fortune with the way Jalibert’s chip bounced kindly for the French, but they shifted the ball with stunning pace as Mickael Guillard broke through the line, passing back inside for his second row partner, Ollivon, to score, with the Ramos conversion sending them 22-0 in front for half time.

In the 47th minute, the French coasted in for their bonus-point, Bielle-Biarrey getting his second of the game as he latched onto a brilliant volley from Thomas Ramos, who had reacted quicker than any Irish player to Dupont chip in behind a ruck.

Trailing 29-0 and in desperate need of a spark, Farrell went to his bench, bringing James Ryan, Jack Conan, Jack Crowley and Timoney (above) into the game, and the latter made an instant impact with a try on 57 minutes.

Prendergast’s delayed pass put Stuart McCloskey into space, and he offloaded to his Ulster team-mate Timoney who ran in to score, with Prendergast’s conversion cutting the gap to 22.

Three minutes later, they were in again. France started coughing up penalties, which allowed Prendergast kick deep into the 22, and after the home side stopped the Irish maul, they went to work in their close phases as Milne burrowed over to score, again converted by Prendergast for 29-14.

By now, the French intensity had dropped several gears, with Ireland throwing the playbook out the window as they scrambled to get back into bonus-point territory.

On 72 minutes they were back in the French 22 and piling on pressure before Emmanuel Meafou stole a ball from Caelan Doris at the breakdown.

It was the final punch Ireland threw, but the home side still had one swing left in them, Attissogbe diving over in the corner with the final play of the game, with Ramos converting to put the full-stop on their 22-point win.

Scorers

France: Tries: Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Matthieu Jalibert, Charles Ollivon, Theo Attissogbe

Cons: Thomas Ramos (4)

Pens: Thomas Ramos (1)

Ireland: Tries: Nick Timoney, Michael Milne

Cons: Sam Prendergast (2)

France: Thomas Ramos; Theo Attissogbe, Nicolas Depoortere, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont (capt); Jean-Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri; Charles Ollivon, Mickael Guillard; Oscar Jegou, Francois Cros, Anthony Jelonch.

Replacements: Peato Mauvaka (for Marchand, 49), Rodrigue Neti (for Gros, 49), Regis Montagne (for Aldegheri, 49), Hugo Auradou (for Ollivon, 49), Emmanuel Meafou (for Guillardn 49), Lenni Nouchi (for Cros, 62), Baptiste Serin (for Dupont, 73), Kalvin Gourgues (for Moefana, 49).

Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O'Brien, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jeremy Loughman, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Cian Prendergast, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt)

Replacements: Rónan Kelleher (for Sheehan, 62), Michael Milne (for Loughman, 58), Finlay Bealham (for Clarkson, 58), James Ryan (for McCarthy, 49), Jack Conan (for Cian Prendergast, 49), Nick Timoney (for Van der Flier, 49), Craig Casey (for Osborne, 72), Jack Crowley (for O'Brien, 49).