{"id":460994,"date":"2026-02-05T22:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/460994\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T22:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:48:11","slug":"france-v-ireland-live-result-and-reaction-as-les-bleus-thrash-beleaguered-visitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/460994\/","title":{"rendered":"France v Ireland live: Result and reaction as Les Bleus thrash beleaguered visitors"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Shaun Edwards: ‘Louis Bielle-Biarrey is just getting better’<\/p>\n

France defence coach Shaun Edwards was understandably ecstatic with his team\u2019s performance and, worryingly for opponents, suggested Louis Bielle-Biarrey is still getting better…<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy,\u201d he said. \u201cOur attack in the first half was fantastic, we dominated possession and territory, which is unusual against a team like Ireland. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we are on it in attack, it is joy to watch. You want to watch it in training! Our rucks were great, especially in the first half. Ireland did well to come back in the second half and it shows they are a good team. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur supporters deserved that try at the end. He [Louis Bielle-Biarrey] is getting better and that is because he wants to get better. He is a world-class superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"(Adam Davy\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 22:24<\/p>\n

<\/a>Caelan Doris laments passivity in defence<\/p>\n

Ireland captain Caelan Doris was understandably downbeat after that defeat – lamenting his side\u2019s passivity in defence<\/p>\n

Doris told ITV: \u201cWe left ourselves too tall a mountain to climb in the first half. We were too passive defensively, there were 19 missed tackles which allowed them to flourish with keeping the ball alive and their attacking game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first 30 minutes we couldn\u2019t find our feet, we allowed them to get phases and score off the back. The bench made a good impact when they came on got us back into the game a bit and got our energy going so there was a bit of grit and determination in the second half. Very disappointing way to start the campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all starts with defence, we needed a strong defence and we didn’t have it. Quite a few lessons learned and we are going to need to be better at home next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"(Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 22:19<\/p>\n

<\/a>WATCH: Best of France tries <\/p>\n

An impressive performance form Les Bleus. Here\u2019s the best of their tries<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 22:11<\/p>\n

<\/a>France make Six Nations statement as Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert unlock new dimension<\/p>\n

And they said that Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibeart couldn\u2019t play together; consider that notion most definitively dismissed. <\/p>\n

On a night of real Gallic charm, France laid down a Six Nations marker with a display of ambition and attacking skill to rival any that they have produced during the recent restoration of the French monarchy in this competition. <\/p>\n

Led by their half-backs, the defending champions looked down on a fellow contender and perhaps exiled them for good, leaving Ireland confronting the grim realities of what feels a sharp decline. <\/p>\n

Read Harry Latham-Coyle\u2019s full report from Paris:<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 22:01<\/p>\n

<\/a>FULL-TIME! France 36-14 Ireland <\/p>\n

It\u2019s all over in Paris. A completely dominant first half from France, where they took the game away from Ireland.<\/p>\n

Once they went 29-0 behind, the Irish started to play and gave their hosts a slight scare but they had way too much to do and a last-gasp try was the cherry on top. <\/p>\n

A glorious beginning to this Six Nations for the reigning champions<\/p>\n

\"\"(Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 21:59<\/p>\n

<\/a>TRY! France 36-14 Ireland (Theo Attissogbe, 80 mins)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the final flourish! Serin zooms forward, darting between tacklers and into the 22. Through the phases and eventually there\u2019s an overlap on the right, through the hands, out to Theo Attissogbe who slips through a lunging tackle and acrobatically dots down in the corner.<\/p>\n

A nice try and Ramos hammers the conversion between the uprights to add more gloss to the final scoreline.<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 21:58<\/p>\n

<\/a>France 29-14 Ireland, 79 mins<\/p>\n

Can France finish with a flourish? Jalibert with a probing kick into touch in the 22 and he takes a big hit from Ryan for his troubles. Was that slightly late? The ball was certainly gone…<\/p>\n

They deem he was already committed so no foul.<\/p>\n

\"\"(Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 21:54<\/p>\n

<\/a>France 29-14 Ireland, 77 mins<\/p>\n

Here come France again now. The power game has come back. Auradou steals the ball and Meafou barrels forward. Jalibert finds Deporteere who makes more yards. <\/p>\n

They surging through the 22 and reach the line but just held up over. Ireland clear the goal-line dropout but Les Bleus are right back to it, flow right, through the hands and it\u2019s deft play by young Kalvin Gourgues but just into touch.<\/p>\n

Ireland win the lineout despite the jeers and boot clear<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 21:52<\/p>\n

<\/a>France 29-14 Ireland, 74 mins<\/p>\n

Brilliant thump clear by Dupont, from his own line, into the Ireland half and into touch. Class, once again. That\u2019s his final act as Baptiste Serin comes on. Big ovation for Antoine.<\/p>\n

It looks like they\u2019ll see this out despite Ireland\u2019s late surge.<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 21:49<\/p>\n

<\/a>France 29-14 Ireland, 73 mins<\/p>\n

Doris on the end of the lineout and Osborne takes them into the 22. A couple of phases and Conan drives them within five metres…<\/p>\n

Good, clean rugby so far in these phases by the visitors. They grind to a halt after 17 phases though. And Doris takes contact but knocks on in the tackle. <\/p>\n

It gets a bit weird after that and Ireland somehow touch down for a try but we have a TMO check but eventually decide to just have a French scrum for the Doris knock-on<\/p>\n

Luke Baker5 February 2026 21:47<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shaun Edwards: ‘Louis Bielle-Biarrey is just getting better’ France defence coach Shaun Edwards was understandably ecstatic with his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-460994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}