Thanks in no small part to clinical finishes in either half from Lyam Akrab, France emerged from the Leeside venue with a bonus point triumph to their name. Having previously established an unbeaten run of 15 games across the three previous editions of this tournament, Ireland have now suffered three losses from four games played in the 2025 Championship.

Ireland found themselves under intense pressure from the very early stages on home turf and the persistence of Les Bleus looked set to pay off when Tom Leveque gathered a crossfield kick on the right-flank. However, superb defensive work by fly-half Tom Wood (the son of Ireland, Munster and Lions legend Keith Wood) forced the Bayonne winger into dropping the ball just as he appeared destined to dot down.

Yet the visitors continued to attack in waves and they finally opened the scoring in the 15th minute as Bordeaux Bègles full-back Jon Echegaray – fresh from registering the quickest try in Top 14 history against Perpignan last weekend – rounded off an outstanding team move by grounding to the left of the posts.

While the resulting bonus kick from Luka Keletaona drifted past the target, France were in for a second try when Echegaray passed out wide for Leveque to sprint over just shy of the first-quarter mark.

Echegaray was proving to be the standout performer of the opening period and he subsequently released Noa Traversier for a seemingly routine run over the line on 28 minutes. Yet a premature celebration from the flanker opened the door for Will Wootton to produce a try-saving challenge and Ireland received a much-needed boost when Traversier was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Wood moments later.

Remarkably, France would finish the half with just 12 players after Bartholome Sanson and Echegaray both joined Traversier in the sin-bin. The temporary dismissal of Echegaray also delivered a penalty try for Ireland, but an earlier five-pointer from French hooker Akrab meant Neil Doak’s men still trailed 15-7 at the interval.

This left the hosts with a major numerical advantage on the resumption, albeit France had welcomed Traversier and Sanson back into the fray by the seventh minute of the second half. The half-time scoreline remained intact by the time the visiting team were eventually restored to their full compliment and Cédric Laborde’s charges almost immediately wrapped up a bonus point when Akrab applied the finishing touches to another line-out maul in the 52nd minute.

Ireland had largely struggled to create sustained attacking momentum during the opening hour of this fixture, before – coinciding with the introduction of a plethora of replacements – they ultimately started to gain more of a stranglehold towards the French posts inside the final-quarter. Hooker Henry Walker was one of those reserves to be given a chance to impress and he was perilously close to touching down at the back of a line-out maul on 66 minutes.

While France stood firm during this attacking spell, Ireland finally added to that earlier penalty try when Leinster winger Ciaran Mangan completed an extended move with a stoppage-time try to raise cheer from the Irish supporters.

Scorers for Ireland: Tries: Penalty Try, C Mangan

Scorers for France: Tries: L Akrab 2, J Echegaray, T Leveque Cons: L Keletaona

IRELAND: D Green; C Molony, G O’Leary Kareem, E Smyth (C Fahy 69), C Mangan; T Wood (S Wisniewski 67), W Wootton (C Logan 62); B Bohan (P Moore 62), M Yarr (H Walker 51), A Mullan (T McAllister 51); M Ronan (C Kennelly 57), B Corrigan; M Foy, B Power (D Walsh 57), E McCarthy.

FRANCE: J Echegaray; T Leveque, S Daunivucu, F Brau-Boirie, N Donguy (O Cowie 71); L Keletaona (J Cotarmanac’h 60), B Tilloles (S Daroque 60); S Jean-Christophe (J-Y Liufau 65), L Akrab (Q Algay 66), M Megherbi (E-J Jabea Njocke 52); B Sanson (S Tolofua 57), C Mezou; A Deliance, N Traversier, B Britz (J Nguimbous 52).

Referee: G Colby (South Africa).