France win in Dublin for first time since 2011

It’s two from two for France in this year’s Six Nations, and importantly they won in Dublin for the first time since 2011. But they made hard work of it. The second half was a much tighter affair and in the end France did just enough to come away with a 15-13 win at the Aviva Stadium.

They went into the half-time break 10-3 up – 14-man France scored a sublime try while lock Bernard le Roux was in the bin, shortly after denying James Lowe a score in the corner at the other end. It took France almost half an hour to get going and then – bang! – they struck.

They further extended their lead after the half, with a Damien Penaud try.

With fly-half Matthieu Jalibert switching play and throwing a looping pass to Brice Dulin, the full-back evaded James Lowe as he shot out of the line. Dulin then arced his run and ushered in wing Damian Penaud for the try.

Ireland got a score back as Ronan Kelleher – only just on the field as a substitute – took spilt lineout ball at the front, burst past Antoine Dupont and raced down the touchline to score.

Replacement ten Ross Byrne made it 10-15, before slotting a penalty to bring it to within two points at 13-15.

Jalibert could have extended France’s lead with a penalty of his own, but it rocketed off the posts and the gap stayed at two points.

The visitors managed to hold on and take a second championship win – only France and Wales head into round three, unbeaten.

Look at the video above: it clearly means a lot to the side! For Ireland, they are still looking for that pressure-relieving win.

We have a week’s break in the Six Nations now and when we return the week after, Ireland will face Italy on Saturday 27 February and France will host Scotland on Sunday 28 February.

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