Ireland 26-14 France

Best, Sexton, Conan & Earls score in routine win in Dublin

INPHO
Author: Alex KeeryPublished 10th Mar 2019

Ireland recorded an important win over France as they kept alive their slim hopes of winning the 6 Nations.

Joe Schmidt's men ran in 4 tries against a French side that completely failed to turn up in Dublin, and offered barely any resistance to a constant Irish attack.

A third minute lineout set the platform for a rolling maul, with captain Rory Best almost unopposed as he reached for the corner to score the opening try, with Jonny Sexton slotting a difficult kick from wide on the left.

Ireland spent the majority of the next 27 minutes in the French half, with the second try finally coming in the 30th. Sexton collected a smart pass inside from Ringrose, racing between two French defenders to touch down near the posts and then convert his own try.

Ringrose had a try ruled out, but Ireland soon made amends with Jack Conan breaking two tackles to power over from 7 yards in the 37th minute to make it 19-0 at the interval.

16 minutes into the 2nd half, the bonus point was in the bag as Keith Earls finished from outside the 22 after being released by CJ Stander's clever reverse pass, with Sexton slotting the extras.

Huget Yoann scored for 14-man France with 4 minutes left to play, with Chat scoring at the death to add some undeserved gloss to the final scoreline.