France destroy Ireland to set up Six Nations title party against Scotland but big Antoine Dupont injury scare

Fabien Galthie’s flamboyant French team ran in five tries to chalk up a bonus-point win and go above Ireland at the top of the Six Nations table.

France have 16 points with one match remaining, with Ireland second on 14 points ahead of Scotland’s match against Wales later on Saturday and England’s hosting of Italy on Sunday. Scotland can still technically win the Six Nations, but would require two bonus-point wins against the Welsh and the French and an improbable points difference swing to stand any chance.

It now means that Scotland head to the Stade de France next Saturday night right in the firing line as the hosts look to reclaim the title. However, France may have to do it without their star scrum-half Antoine Dupont, who was taken off in some discomfort after injuring his knee in the first half. He was replaced by Maxime Lucu.

Ireland suffered a significant setback before kick-off when James Lowe withdrew due to a back spasm to be replaced on the left wing by Calvin Nash.

Retiring centurions Peter O’Mahony, Healy and Conor Murray led out the teams to a deafening noise ahead of their final Test outings on home soil, closely followed by captain Caelan Doris, Finlay Bealham and Conan, who were each winning 50th caps.

Simon Easterby’s men were determined not to be sidetracked by sentiment in a fixture which has ultimately decided the destination of the title in the previous three years. The hosts flew out of the blocks but were unable to make a dent on the scoreboard as Doris was held up on the line by Gregory Alldritt before Prendergast struck the posts with a penalty.

Following a series of early let-offs, momentum gradually began to shift in France’s favour. Dupont was denied a breakaway try due to a knock-on before setting up Louis Bielle-Biarrey to dot down wide on the left in the aftermath of Joe McCarthy being sin-binned for a cynical, off-the-ball tug on Thomas Ramos.

France’s talismanic skipper was then helped from the field following a challenge on Gavin Sheehan, a major blow intensified by replacement scrum-half Maxime Lucu being the only back on the visitors’ bench due to Galthie’s bold decision to go with a seven-one split.

Ireland hit back to end an absorbing opening period just two points behind. A 35th-minute Sam Prendergast penalty finally opened the hosts’ account before he split the posts with a monster effort from halfway with the last kick of the half after Ramos slotted three points at the other end.

With the encounter finely poised, Ireland capitalised on a strong restart to lead for the first time when Sheehan launched himself into the right corner following a line-out maul.

Prendergast nailed the tricky conversion but the contest swiftly – and emphatically – swung back France’s way after flanker Paul Boudehent benefited from some neat offloads to crash over.

Ireland were unhappy Thibaud Flament was not penalised for taking out O’Mahony off the ball in the build-up to the try, with the frustration of home fans heightened by Nash being yellow carded for head-on-head contact with Pierre-Louis Barassi.

The departure of centre Barassi for a head injury assessment left the French without any backs to bring on. Yet it seemed to matter little. Flanker Oscar Jegou filled the void before the jet-heeled Bielle-Biarrey stylishly doubled his tally for the afternoon by racing on to his own kick to cap a breathtaking counter attack.

Ramos kicked another penalty to further delight the sizeable French contingent among the capacity crowd, before Jegou bulldozed over to add to Ireland’s misery.

The reigning champions enjoyed plenty of territory as they sought an unlikely way back into the match. But, after Flament was sin-binned for illegally stifling the home team, France increased the embarrassment when Ramos, who nailed four of his conversion attempts, read a Prendergast pass on his own line and burst clear to unselfishly pop the ball to Damian Penaud.

Healy and Conan each crossed in the closing stages to mark their respective milestone appearances. But Ireland were powerless to prevent a first home defeat in the Six Nations since 2021 which leaves them needing France to slip up against Scotland when they travel to Italy next weekend.