France thrashed Ireland 42-27 on Saturday afternoon in Dublin to take command of the 2025 Six Nations championships.
The victory – France's biggest in Dublin – was all the more impressive as it was achieved without skipper Antoine Dupont who left the field late in the first-half with his side leading 5-0.
After absorbing early home pressure, the visitors opened the scoring after 20 minutes. Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored his sixth try of the competition going over the line in the corner on the left wing. Thomas Ramos failed to add the two points for the conversion.
Following Dupont's departure, both teams swapped penalties before Sam Prendergast added another for Ireland. The visitors went in at half-time 8-6 up.
To the delight of the partisans in the Aviva Stadium, the hosts took the lead in the early stages of the second-half. Dan Sheehan scored on the right wing and Prendergast added the conversion for a 13-8 advantage.
Indiscipline
But a second Irish player was shown a yellow card five minutes into the second period and France took full advantage of Calvin Nash's 10-minute absence with tries from Paul Boudenhent, Bielle-Biarrey, and a penalty from Ramos to lead 25-13.
Just before the hour mark, it was effectively all over, Oscar Jégou scored a try and Ramos added the conversion for 32-13.
Another Ramos penalty on 66 minutes took the score to 35-13 and when Damien Penaud went over for a record-equalling 38th try for his country, the Test entered humiliation territory at 42-13.
Ireland salvaged some pride late on with tries from Cian Healy and Jack Conan but the spoils and leadership of the table were with Fabien Galthié's men.
"The secret was to play 80 minutes with all the intensity we can have," Bielle-Biarrey told British broadcaster ITV. "I got good ball to play and I know it’s my job to finish off. I tried to do my best.”
Ireland skipper Caelan Doris lamented his side's indiscipline just after the pause. “That middle 20 minutes of the second-half was what killed us," he said.
"There was some discipline issues with some back-to-back penalties. They got a bit of momentum and when we got tight defensively, they can spread it wide to score. That hurt us, big time. It’s disappointing.”
Next Saturday at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France can claim the Six Nations title for the first time since 2022 with victory over Scotland who beat Wales 35-29 on Saturday night.
