France leads Ireland 22-0 at half-time
Irish Examiner
Here's a minute by minute breakdown of the first half from the Irish Examiner.
That third was a wonderful team try for the hosts who have played some spellbinding stuff in a half that has gone by in a blur of brilliant blue. Yet the green-tinted lenses have found little positive to focus on. Bielle-Biarrey was threatening again before Osborne snuffed it out. Halftime can't come quickly enough for Farrell.
Mickael Guillard had spent the better part of a half hour barrelling into Irishmen with huge carries. Now he turns provider to his fellow second rower Charles Ollivon who powers over, Ireland's defence in shambles. The two locks looked more like backs with the hands and lines. For Ireland, this is a Thursday night horror show. France are threatening to have the bonus wrapped up before the break.
The number that matters most is, of course, on the scoreboard. It already feels like the next score needs to be Ireland's. But there are other ugly numbers swirling in the Stade. How about this one: Ireland have missed 19 tackles in less than a half hour. Ouch.
— Joe McCarthy, one of many Irish carriers who has got his hands on precious little ball in this opening half hour, gives away a frankly brainless penalty but that's what pressure can do and Ireland have been under a mountain of it. Ramos extends the lead.
Here's that opening try from Bielle-Biarrey that got us all started. Last year's player of the championship is clearly eager to retain his crown. Scintillating!
â¡ï¸ Try France! Louise Bielle-Biarrey shows blistering pace to open the scoring. France 5–0 Ireland#VMSport #GuinnessM6N #FravIre pic.twitter.com/z7MO7GOzar
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 5, 2026
— And the second score that has been threatened since the first was dotted down does arrive. It's all too easy from an Irish perspective as Dupont picks from the back of the scrum and Jalibert bundles over with ease. Small mercy as Ramos pings an upright with the extras but this is a 12-0 hole that feels very deep already.
Irish bodies are bopping and banging off French ones but it's those in green that are all going backwards as the French decamp to the Ireland 22. Gibson-Park is defending manfully but France are on the brink of another when the ball inexplicably is offloaded not to a blue jersey but to Prendergast. All Ireland can do is give up a five-metre scrum.
Ireland are pinged again for going off their feet, the second penalty they've conceded since that French try. Before we've hit the 20-minute mark this has unquestionably become the test of Irish mettle we'd expected.
— Mon Dieu! Bielle-Biarrey has picked up exactly where he left off. Ireland were pinned back and a kick towards the right corner is dealt with in less than typical fashion as Prendergast volleys it back upfield. It's back down Ireland's throat in a blur of Bleu as Bielle-Biarrey finds room where there is none, three Ireland players unable to stop the wing wonder. Ramos adds the extras. A solid start is undone in a flash.
There's been plenty of deep kicking already but Sam Prendergast opts to change tack with a lovely cross-field effort that sends Tommy O'Brien scampering down the right wing before Thomas Ramos gets back to handle things. That will have helped the Ireland No.10's confidence. Andy Farrell is already busy sending instructions down from upon high.
After surviving two scrums, Ireland get some gorgeous relief at the foot of Osborne who shows not a flicker of rust with a 50:22 beauty. Another smooth lineout routine works and Ireland briefly get moving towards the French 22 before a turnover. A third scrum within the first seven minutes. This was always going to be a night for the set piece.
Woof, there are early scares and then there's the scare Ireland just suffered — but survived. Louis Bielle-Biarrey scorches down the wing after an Irish box kick didn't work out and with the line at their mercy, the French knock on. First scrum incoming.
Like he'd never left, Dupont finds touch with a booming kick to test the Ireland lineout within 30 seconds. It's been a trouble area for Ireland but the first one went off without issue.
If you haven't had the pleasure of hearing a Stade de France rendition of La Marseillaise in person, we'd suggest throwing it on the wish/bucket list. Tonight's was mostly a cappella and was as stirring as ever. So we're just about ready to go.
Ireland's more recent trips to the Stade de France felt like home games, the 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign seeing a Zombie-soundtracked Irish invasion. It won't be anything like that tonight as the teams emerge out into a cauldron of French noise and flames with enough Jean-Michel Jarre lasers to take down a Death Star. It's a show in Paris alright. Time for the anthems...
For the record, it would appear that Dupont did indeed get the French night off on the right foot (or flick) by winning the toss. A bad omen for Caelan Doris and Ireland? We'll see soon enough...
For Farrell the new year has been full of fresh headaches. Injury and ill-discipline have seriously restricted his options in Paris. At the coalface things have been particularly dire. Injuries to Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle mean Jeremy Loughman will start at loosehead for the first time in two years. Jamie Osborne will deputise for Hugo Keenan at full back but hasn't played a game since November. Farrell has opted for a 6-2 split on the bench.
Back to full fitness and his mesmerizing best, Dupont will lead a French XV that hasn't been without its own upheaval. While the skipper will make his first Test appearance in 11 months having injured his knee injury in this fixture last year, Fabien Galthie caused plenty of stir by naming his a 42-man tournament squad without Gregory Alldritt, Gael Fickou and Damian Penaud. Midway through a World Cup cycle, tonight's France XV contains plenty of experience and explosiveness (Louis Bielle-Biarrey is back for more) but new blood too. On the other wing, Pau's Théo Attissogbe, a star of the French club game in recent times, must be watched.
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