France crowned 2025 Six Nations champions after fending off Scotland

France claimed the 2025 Six Nations title after they overcame a determined Scotland side 35-16 at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.

Tries from Yoram Moefana (2), Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos, who finished with a 20-point haul, steered Les Bleus to tournament glory in front of their fans.

Scotland battled bravely throughout but missed opportunities and lack of brute force up front meant they were gradually moved out of reach of this superb France side.

Darcy Graham scored Scotland‘s only try of the game while Finn Russell kicked 11 points but Gregor Townsend’s men will rue several missed opportunities on the night.

England were hoping Scotland would do them a favour after their impressive win over Wales moved them above Les Bleus ahead of this final clash of the Championship.

However, France looked on their game from kick-off at the Stade de France as Ramos slotted a simple penalty on four minutes, this after the Scots brought down a maul.

Another maul pull-down led to Jamie Ritchie being sin-binned by referee Matthew Carley after 12 minutes, but Scotland managed to survive the ensuing French onslaught.

That was until the 17th minute when a fine side-step and offload from Gael Fickou on the Scottish 22 sent centre partner Moefana scrambling under the uprights for 10-0.

Then came a moment of controversy as France hooker Peato Mauvaka threw himself into Scotland’s Ben White on the ground, making head on head contact with the scrum-half after the referee’s whistle had blown.  However, his card remained yellow, much to the anger of plenty of supporters of Scotland who believed it should have been a straight red.

Russell would take the three points from the offence but that was soon wiped out by Ramos off the tee, who landed his own shot after Ritchie was penalised for offside.

Scotland were starting to find their groove with ball in hand and crossed the whitewash on 29 minutes when Russell’s inside ball saw Graham slice through and get over.

Russell would level matters at 13-all four minutes before the interval after Jean-Baptiste Gros was yellow carded, but Ramos kicked a penalty of his own on 39 minutes.

Scotland thought they had crossed before the interval when Russell found Jordan who crashed over.  However, Blair Kinghorn had grazed the sideline in an earlier attack.

It was a case of what if and that was only amplified when after an excellent start to the second period, Scotland found themselves under their posts in a flash when a loose pass was snapped up by Romain Ntamack, who passed it on to Bielle-Biarrey who cruised over.  With the Ramos extra two points, France were 10 points in front against the run of play.

Russell would opt for three points on 50 minutes, which made it 23-16, as Scotland had the view there was ample time left, but one wondered if they should have gambled.

France would make them rue that decision as they picked up their third and fourth try before the hour mark as Ramos and Moefana finished well to stretch the lead to 19.

That margin felt like the match had been ended as a contest and so it proved as despite Scotland continuing to chance their arm while France looked to their power game, neither side would trouble the scorers thereafter as Les Bleus subsequently cruised to their first Six Nations title since 2022 as Ireland’s Championship reign is brought to a conclusion.

The teams

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickael Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio 2, Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyrill Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Antony Jelonch, 23 Nolann le Garrec

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Marshall Sykes, 21 Ben Muncaster, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (RFU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

England inflict Wales' darkest day as Six Nations title chasers romp to stunning 10-try win in Cardiff

England finished their Six Nations campaign with a flourish as they inflicted Wales’ darkest day following a 68-14 hammering at the Principality Stadium.

Against their biggest rivals in the game, the Welsh were utterly outclassed by a ruthless English outfit, who were dominant from start to finish.

Steve Borthwick’s men were excellent in all facets but the tone was no doubt set by the forwards, who were absolutely brutal in contact.

They touched down five times in the first half through Maro Itoje, Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman, Chandler Cunningham-South and Will Stuart.

Although the visitors were not quite as impressive at the start of the second period, they still controlled matters and then ended in fine style, scoring five more times via Alex Mitchell, Joe Heyes, Cunningham-South and debutant Henry Pollock, who touched down twice.

England duly kept themselves in the Six Nations title hunt and condemned Wales to a second successive Wooden Spoon and a 17th Test loss in a row.

Borthwick stated his intention for the team to play with pace and tempo, but after what they showed against Scotland, you would have forgiven the fans for not believing what the head coach was saying.

However, England stayed true to his promise and from the kick-off looked to test the Welsh defence.  They were utterly brutal in contact with their big runners consistently sending the hosts into reverse.

It took just three minutes for the Red Rose to open the scoring.  Tom Curry made the hard yards following an inventive lineout move before Itoje took it upon himself to touch down from close range.

Wales thought they had immediately responded when Blair Murray latched on to a loose ball and scorched across the whitewash, but it was ruled out for Tomos Williams being offside.

That moment rather encapsulated the clash with seemingly everything going in the visitors’ favour in the opening period as moments later the English had their second try.

Once again the powerhouse forwards did the hard work, but this time the finesse was provided by the backs as Fin Smith’s beautifully weighted pass was collected and finished by Roebuck.

To the hosts’ credit, they did hit back when Freeman was caught out close to his line, allowing Ben Thomas to go over unopposed, but the England centre would soon get his own back.

The Northampton Saint showed his class to take advantage of more good work by those up front to shake off a couple of defenders to score.

It would begin a passage of play which saw the visitors score three tries in seven minutes as the Red Rose moved into a dominant position at half-time.

Cunningham-South was the second to go over during that blitz before Stuart was the beneficiary of a bizarre build-up.

Akin to Courtney Lawes’ try against Japan in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the Red Rose were the beneficiary of similar fortune at the Principality Stadium.

On Saturday, it was another loosehead ― Ellis Genge ― who quite literally used his head to set up the position for Fraser Dingwall and Ben Curry to combine for Stuart to cross.

Those quick-fire scores effectively ended the game as a contest and, as a result, the second period was initially a bit of a damp squib.

England’s intensity reduced and they began to make mistakes, allowing Wales opportunities to try and save face, but Matt Sherratt’s men were unable to take advantage.

The English remained resolute in defence while the Welsh were profligate and it was the visitors who were first on the scoreboard in the second period.

Once again, they were thankful for some more fortune when an attempted Wales pass hit the head of Elliot Daly, but Mitchell showed great awareness and speed to collect and score.

Of all the dreadful days in Welsh rugby, particularly over recent times, this was arguably the worst and England added to their pain when Pollock went over on debut.

Heyes then crossed the whitewash as England moved past a half-century of points and, although Thomas responded for the Welsh, Borthwick’s men deservedly had the final word through Pollock and Cunningham-South.

It completed a wonderful day for the English but Welsh rugby surely cannot sink any lower.

The teams

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Joe Roberts, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Nick Tompkins

England:  15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 George Ford

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Pierre Brousset (France), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO:  Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Dan Sheehan hat-trick papers over ropey Ireland win over Italy

A hat-trick from Dan Sheehan propelled a poor Ireland to a 22-17 victory over Italy that keeps alive their slim hopes of a Six Nations three-peat on Super Saturday.

It was a ropey performance from the reigning champions as they struggled for fluency against the Azzurri, but still managed to come away with a bonus-point success.

Hugo Keenan scored Ireland‘s other try of the game but three missed conversions from Jack Crowley gave Italy an opening and they came agonisingly close to victory.

Monty Ioane and Stephen Varney scored Italy’s tries while Tommaso Allan converted both and fired over a penalty goal as the hosts picked up the losing bonus-point.

Ireland were out of sorts during the opening stanza and will have wondered how they went into the interval in front, this after they struggled for fluency against Italy.

It was a performance best summed up as clunky as they came off second best in most departments, except for the maul, which provided them with a half-ending score.

The Azzurri started the match in fine fashion as Tommaso Menoncello lit the touchpaper with a hard line before offloading to Paolo Garbisi, who sent wing Ioane over.

Mennoncello was causing Ireland problems with his big carries and made inroads again in the early stages, with Martin Page-Relo and Juan Ignacio Brex also on song.

However, Ireland’s maul cut loose from the outset and after Finlay Bealham was denied a try a five-metre scrum saw Crowley beautifully set up Keenan for the leveller.

Italy were then dealt a double injury blow to go with Dino Lamb’s earlier shoulder dislocation as both Lorenzo Cannone and Sebastian Negri came off after 30 minutes.

An Allan penalty after an obvious offside from Garry Ringrose helped to cushion those injuries for Italy, but they would rue a moment of ill-discipline before the half.

Replacement flanker Michele Lamaro was furious with himself for knocking the ball out of Jamison Gibson-Park’s hand at the base of a ruck and received a yellow card before Ireland went for the jugular.  It paid off as their maul bore fruit again and this time the try stood as Sheehan was at the tail of a fast moving set-piece for a 12-10 lead.

Crucially Ireland backed up that try with a score soon after the resumption when a penalty went to the corner and the maul yet again steered Sheehan over for a brace.

And things would get immediately worse for Italy from the ensuing kick off when replacement Ross Vintcent made head on head contact with Keenan which resulted in a yellow card that was later upgraded to red by the bunker, thus compounding the Azzurri’s third-quarter woes that have hindered their Six Nations over recent weekends.

Ireland sensed their hosts were there for the taking and they duly racked up their bonus point score on 58 minutes when Gibson-Park found Mack Hansen with a cross-field kick and the wing batted it back to hooker Sheehan who completed his hat-trick.  Crowley was wide from the tee and was replaced by Sam Prendergast shortly after.

Crowley’s missed conversions were suddenly amplified when a moment of Ange Capuozzo magic led to Varney going over and with Garbisi’s extras, Italy were in touch.

However, the Azzurri could not make their possession count late in the game and a red card for replacement hooker Giacomo Nicotera ended their hopes of a shock win.

The teams

Italy:  15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex (c), 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Joshua Zilocchi, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Leonardo Marin

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Bundee Aki

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO:  Andrew Jackson (England)

Seven-try England beat Italy to move above Ireland on Six Nations table

A second-half flurry of tries helped England see off the challenge of Italy in a 47-24 home victory that puts them right in the hunt for Six Nations glory next week.

Tries from Tom Willis, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme (2), Marcus Smith, Tom Curry and Ben Earl saw them to a seven-try win, with Fin Smith sending over 12 points.

However, a serious injury to Ollie Lawrence that left him in a protective boot will concern head coach Steve Borthwick ahead of next week’s meeting against Wales in Cardiff.

Ange Capuozzo, Ross Vintcent and Tommaso Menoncello crossed for Italy but they will be hugely disappointed at how they fell apart in the second 40, this after a good start.

The opening period was wonderfully entertaining as both sides threw caution to the wind in welcome March sunshine as those in attendance were treated to five first-half tries.

England struck first as early as the third minute when a break down the right wing from Freeman saw him offload to Tom Curry before the recycled ball saw Willis dive over.

However, joy turned to despair soon after when star centre Lawrence departed the action after dropping to the ground off the ball with what appeared to be an Achilles injury.

Italy would respond to the break in play the better as two chip kicks over the top, the first from Paolo Garbisi and second from Monty Ioane, found Capuozzo, who raced over.

7-7 could easily have been 10-7 to Italy on 23 minutes but Garbisi was wayward with his penalty attempt and England would make them pay soon after down the other end.

The hosts went close and felt aggrieved when Earl was tackled in a maul, but a minute later a kick in behind from Elliot Daly led to Freeman getting there first for his score.

But Italy once again struck back in style with full-back Capuozzo involved, this time scorching through a tiny hole on halfway before finding Vintcent who raced over to level.

The end-to-end nature of the match continued on 35 minutes though when England went wide left to where Sleightholme was in space and he sprinted over to make it 21-14.

Italy did manage to reduce the arrears before half-time courtesy of a Garbisi penalty and would have been pleased with their efforts going in for a rest just four points adrift.

However, England came out for the resumption in scintillating form as a quick-fire double from Marcus Smith and Tom Curry moved them up to a 35-17 lead on 47 minutes.

That became 42-17 six minutes later when slick handling from Maro Itoje and Jamie George set Sleightholme up for his brace and Fin Smith slotted the tough touchline extras.

There was then a lull in the fixture as England had the result and try bonus point safely wrapped up and rang the changes with the 100-cap George one of those departing.

That drought would end on the 71st minute when Martin Page-Relo found Menoncello for Italy’s third try but Ben Curry sent Earl over late on as England had the last say.

The teams

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith

Italy:  15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Monty Ioane, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Lorenzo Cannone, 22 Martin Page-Relo, 23 Tommaso Allan

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Craig Evans (Wales), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Wales' losing streak extends to 16 after Six Nations defeat to Scotland

Wales were made to count the cost of a shambolic first 60 minutes after Scotland claimed a 35-29 victory in the Six Nations on Saturday.

After the improvement against Ireland, this was a step backwards from the Welsh, who were overwhelmed by an impressive Scottish team in the opening hour.

The result was effectively confirmed at the break as Tom Jordan’s double, allied by further scores by Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham, moved them 28-8 ahead going into the second period.

Blair Murray responded for the visitors in the opening period, while Ben Thomas, Teddy Williams and Max Llewellyn also touched down in the second half to rescue two bonus-points, but Blair Kinghorn sealed his brace to make sure of a victory for the hosts.

It moved Scotland up to third in the Six Nations table ― for the time being at least ― and within an outside chance of the title going into the final weekend, but this game mostly served as an opportunity for redemption after the England disappointment.

As for the Welsh, credit must be given for their response in the final 20 minutes, which gave them tangible reward for their efforts, but they were outclassed for the most part.

Hopes were high that Wales could finally end their barren streak and, after they earned an early penalty, which Gareth Anscombe converted, eyebrows would have been raised further, but it proved to be a rather chastening first 60 minutes for the visitors.

Matt Sherratt’s men were ripped apart time and time again, with the opening try showing just how fallible this team still is as Kinghorn shrugged off a couple of tackles to touch down.

Scotland, after their immensely frustrating defeat to England, were also fired up and played some outstanding rugby.  Gregor Townsend’s side moved the ball so well at Twickenham two weeks ago and once again they found gaps in the opposition defence.

That was demonstrated by their second try as a sweeping move from right to left saw Duhan van der Merwe send Huw Jones free down the left.  The centre then drew the final defender and sent Jordan over the line to open up a 14-3 lead.

Wales’ only real bright spark was New Zealand-born Murray and the livewire back latched on to Anscombe’s smart chip kick to get them back in the contest.

However, that Welsh delight was only brief as the Scots reasserted their authority and went over for the third time.  On this occasion it was Graham who scored but the wing was indebted to Finn Russell after the fly-half dummied and sent him through a hole to touch down.

A fourth try ― and thus the bonus-point ― was soon forthcoming when Jordan completed his brace for a 20-point lead at the break.

Although Wales mounted a remarkable comeback last year and almost snatched an unlikely win, Scotland effectively had the game wrapped up six minutes into the second period.

Townsend’s team once again dominated the physical exchanges and stressed Wales’ defence, which opened the space for Kinghorn to race through a large gap and cross the whitewash.

To Wales’ credit, however, they continued to work hard and they got their reward in the final quarter with two tries for Thomas and Teddy Williams.

It could have been a third in quick succession when Taulupe Faletau touched down ― which certainly would have made Scotland fans nervous ― but it was controversially ruled out for Murray ‘jumping over a tackle’ in the build-up.

That ended any faint hopes of a fightback, although the Welshmen did get a final score with the clock in the red when Llewellyn crossed, giving them two bonus-points.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Stafford McDowall, 23 Kyle Rowe

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Joe Roberts

Referee:  Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees:  Nic Berry (Australia), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Fantastic France thump Ireland despite Antoine Dupont injury as Simon Easterby's side suffer massive blow in search for historic Six Nations three-peat

France turned the 2025 Six Nations on its head as they produced a stunning display to hammer Ireland 42-27 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Much of the talk beforehand was about Fabien Galthie’s decision to go with a 7-1 split on the bench, but the decision paid off despite seeing their star man Antoine Dupont limp off in the first half and end with a forward in the backline after Pierre-Louis Barassi suffered a head injury.

Maxime Lucu came on for Dupont and was utterly magnificent as Les Bleus built on an 8-6 half-time lead given to them by Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s try and Thomas Ramos’ penalty.

Ireland had actually gone ahead after the break through Dan Sheehan, whose try followed two first-half three-pointers by Sam Prendergast, but the visitors would go on to thrash Simon Easterby’s charges.

They played some superb rugby at times and further tries from Paul Boudehent, Bielle-Biarrey, Oscar Jegou and Damian Penaud took them to a potentially defining Six Nations success.

France moved to the top of the table and, providing they beat Scotland next weekend, will end Ireland’s chances of claiming an unprecedented three-peat.

It was always going to be a brutal encounter and the opening quarter set the tone for the match as both teams went into contact viciously.

Ireland dominated the opening 20 minutes as they kept the French guessing with their dexterity with ball in hand.  Les Bleus did not help themselves by conceding a series of penalties, but the hosts were putting them under severe duress.

Somehow Galthie’s men managed to survive the onslaught with some incredible last-ditch defence and that proved crucial in the end result.

France eventually managed to edge themselves into the contest and, after having a try ruled out for a knock-on following a turnover, they opened the scoring minutes later.

It started with Thomas Ramos and Bielle-Biarrey linking up down the left-hand side before the wing chipped over the top.  Although Robbie Henshaw was there to clean up, earlier in the move Joe McCarthy cynically pulled Ramos back and was duly sin-binned.

With the lock off the field, the visitors took advantage as they mauled towards the line before Dupont spotted space out wide and Bielle-Biarrey was on hand to touch down.

However, the away side suffered what seemed like a huge blow when their talisman was taken off with a serious-looking injury after Tadhg Beirne landed on his leg.

Officials have clamped down on those type of acts over the past couple of years but not this time as it was deemed to have been an accidental collision.

Ireland would take advantage of that let-off as Prendergast’s two penalties to Ramos’ one kept them in the game at the interval.

They then moved ahead as Sheehan’s score from a dominant drive gave the hosts a 13-8 advantage, but from thereon in it was all about Galthie’s side.

The French were utterly magnificent and responded immediately to that effort from the hooker as a brilliant move resulted in Boudehent crossing the whitewash.

In that same attack, Calvin Nash took Barassi high and it resulted in a yellow card for the winger.

France would once again take advantage of the extra man when Penaud instigated a counter-attack and found Bielle-Biarrey on the left.  The youngster still had loads to do but, of course, the special talent found a way, kicking ahead and touching down.

At that point, Ireland were still just about in the game but the fresh French forwards were doing their job and another infringement enabled Ramos to extend the lead from the tee.

All the momentum was with the visitors and their ‘Bomb Squad’ made the desired impact as Jegou touched down from close range.

That was well and truly game over, with Ireland’s Grand Slam dreams fading, but they still wanted to really rubberstamp the win and that came through Penaud, despite a couple of late scores via Cian Healy and Jack Conan.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jamie Osborne, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Calvin Nash, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 James Ryan, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Ryan Baird, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Jack Crowley

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Emmanuel Meafou, 20 Hugo Auradou, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Anthony Jelonch, 23 Maxime Lucu

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)