Despite seeing his side ultimately falling to a 21-point defeat, Ireland’s head coach Scott Bemand was able to take plenty of encouragement from an opening round duel with France in the Women’s Six Nations at Stade Marie-Marvingt on Saturday afternoon.

Having lost out 53-3 at home to the French in the second round of last year’s Championship — when Bemand’s predecessor Greg McWilliams was at the helm — this was an incredibly daunting encounter on paper for the Irish. They had also played the majority of their 2023 clash in Cork’s Musgrave Park with a numerical advantage, but thanks to some stout defensive work, the visitors frustrated Les Bleues for large stretches of the opening period in the Le Mans venue.

While tries from Pauline Bourdon Sansus, Marine Menager, Madoussou Fall and Agathe Sochat wrapped up a bonus point victory for France by the 62nd minute, a determined Ireland did cross over through Aoife Wafer and Aoife Dalton in the closing stages of the action.

Although there are vast improvements that could be made across the board, Bemand is in a positive frame of mind ahead of a second round bout against Italy at the RDS in Dublin next Sunday.

“First and foremost, when you come to France, you want to be hard to beat,” the former England women’s lead coach said. “The defence is starting to show what it can do, what it could possibly evolve into and what it wants to be about.”

Whereas France took the lead nine minutes into their aforementioned 2023 showdown with Ireland, there was just over two minutes gone on the clock when the hosts crossed the opposition line in Le Mans.

After picking up possession off the back of a lineout maul, Bourdon Sansus dotted down beyond the whitewash for a try that was supplemented by a conversion from her half-back partner Lina Queyroi.

This was an ominous start for an Ireland side that finished bottom of last year’s Championship table with five straight defeats, but some unexpected issues with the French lineout eased the pressure on them as the first quarter progressed.

In fact, after establishing a brief foothold in enemy territory, the Edel McMahon-led visitors cut the gap to four points when the fly-half Nicole Fowley comfortably knocked a 40-metre penalty between the posts on 14 minutes.

Playing in the Six Nations for the first time since 2019, Fowley deployed an effective kicking game for much of the opening period. This made it difficult for France to reinforce their authority in attack, but the side that are ranked third in the world eventually rediscovered their groove. Released through a gap deep inside the opposition half, the flying winger Menager side-stepped an attempted challenge from Lauren Delany to claim a second French try in fine style. Having supplied the extras to this five-pointer, Queyroi also slotted a 38th minute penalty between the posts to leave Ireland 17-3 in arrears at the interval.

The visiting team did their utmost to hold firm on the resumption, but after coming up short from a series of five-metre drives, the powerful lock Fall crashed over for a third French try on 47 minutes.

With Queyroi maintaining a perfect record off the kicking tee from the ensuing conversion, Ireland were now staring down the barrel of a sixth straight Championship defeat. France, on the other hand, now had a bonus point in their sights.

While the debutant Kelly Arbey had a try ruled out in the 56th minute for an earlier forward pass, the hooker Sochat rounded off a set-piece move inside the final quarter to ensure the French came away with a maximum return from this game.

Credit must go to Ireland, however, as they refused to let their heads drop in the dying embers of the game.

From their first sustained spell of possession inside the opposition 22, the blindside flanker Wafer powered over on 71 minutes under intense pressure from the retreating French rearguard. Even though France’s replacement hooker Elisa Riffonneau responded swiftly with a try off another effective set-piece manoeuvre, Dalton capitalised on a defensive error to touch down three minutes from the end.

Scorers: France: Tries Bourdon Sansus (3 min), M Menager (32), Fall (47), A Sochat (62), E Riffonneau (75). Cons Queyroi 4 (4, 34, 49, 63), M Bourgeois (77). Pens Queyroi (38). Ireland: Tries A Wafer (71), A Dalton (77). Cons D O’Brien 2 (72, 78). Pens Fowley (14).

France E Boulard; K Arbey, N Konde, G Vernier, M Menager (M Bourgeois 44); L Queyroi (L Tuy 72), P Bourdon Sansus (A Chambon 61); A Deshaye (A Mwayembe 56), A Sochat (E Riffonneau 65), A Khalfaoui (C Joyeux 65); M Feleu (K Zago 67), M Fall (E Gros 51); C Escudero, G Hermet, R Menager.

Ireland L Delany; K Corrigan (M Deely 67), E Higgins, A Dalton, B Parsons; N Fowley (D O’Brien half-time), A Reilly (M Scuffil-McCabe 63); L Djougang (N O’Dowd 77), N Jones (S Delaney 77), C Haney (S McGrath 63); D Wall (F Tuite 56), H O’Connor; A Wafer, E McMahon (G Moore 51), B Hogan.

Referee K Roche (USA).