France fend off Ireland

Ireland's hopes of winning the RBS Six Nations were dealt a blow as France snatched a 25-22 victory in a tightly-fought contest at the Aviva Stadium.

The hosts took an early lead after catching France cold with a whirlwind start, but France gradually played themselves into the game via the boot of Morgan Parra.

The tables were then turned back in Ireland's favour as Tomas O'Leary scored their second try just before half-time, but the reigning Grand Slam champions responded in the second half through Maxime Medard.

Jamie Heaslip crossed in the corner to ensure that the contest was in the balance during the final stages, but France just held on in a frantic finish to come away with an important victory.

France and England - the two teams who still have perfect records - will now lock horns at Twickenham on February 26 in what could potentially be the decisive match in this year's competition.

Buoyed by a rousing home support in the first Six Nations contest at their new home, Ireland surged forward early on and opened the scoring with less than five minutes on the clock.

Roar

Luke Fitzgerald initially crossed the try-line to a huge roar, only for play to be brought back as Gordon D'Arcy's offload to the full-back was deemed forward.

France were still shaking, however, and fumbled the ball away from the resulting scrum, allowing Fergus McFadden to bulldoze his way over the try-line from close range.

Jonathan Sexton added the extras but the visitors eventually found their feet and got on the board when scrum-half Parra slotted over a penalty 11 minutes in.

The five-point lead remained after Sexton and Parra added three points each to their tallies in quick succession to make it 10-6 at the midway point in the first half.

Irish hands in the ruck then allowed Parra to reduce the deficit to one point and when Donncha O'Callaghan did not roll away in time after making a tackle, the 22-year-old gave France a 12-9 lead.

There was to be another twist before half-time, however, as an Ireland lineout allowed them to home in on the visitors' line, with O'Leary wriggling over to make it 15-12 after confirmation from the video referee.

Front foot

France were on the front foot immediately after the interval, although it was almost 10 minutes into the second-half before Parra extended his perfect record and tied the scores with a well-struck long-range effort.

Ireland's high-energy game still looked threatening, but the hosts were found wanting in defence in the 55th minute as France took control with their only try of the match.

Aurelien Rougerie brushed off a weak tackle from D'Arcy to break clear before playing in wing Medard for the score, with replacement scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili adding the conversion.

The home side continued to be blighted by indiscipline at the breakdown, and although Yachvili fluffed one attempt to extend the lead, he was on target with another from the right touchline.

But Ireland continued to attack and Heaslip reduced the arrears by scoring in the corner after a lengthy spell of pressure had ended with a lucky bounce to David Wallace, who played in his fellow back row for the score. O'Gara added the extras.

With Ireland now within three, a Keith Earls kick at the death caused confusion in the France defence, but replacement hooker Sean Cronin knocked-on in prime position to let the visitors off the hook in dramatic fashion.