Watch match highlights of Ireland v France in the second round of the Guinness Six Nations 2021.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell had ‘mixed emotions’ in the wake of his side’s 15-13 Guinness Six Nations defeat to France at the Aviva Stadium.
Despite Leinster duo Ronan Kelleher and Ross Byrne contributing five points apiece from the bench, Farrell’s men suffered a narrow loss at the hands of the in-form les Bleus.
While acknowledging the endeavour of his charges, he was nonetheless frustrated to still be searching for a first win in this year’s Championship.
“At the same time, Test matches are there to be won, especially at home. We rue a few decisions that we made and chances along that way.
“Even though a couple of days ago people were writing us off, we never wrote ourselves off. The game was there to be won and it was a hard-fought contest, but it’s one that slipped away from us in the end.”
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Iain Henderson (c), 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Cian Healy Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Will Connors, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Jordan Larmour
France: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Arthur Vincent, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Gabin Villiere, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 Anthony Jelonch, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Bernard le Roux, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Hassane Kolingar, 18 Uini Atonio, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Dylan Cretin, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Anthony Bouthier, 23 Teddy Thomas Date: Sunday, February 14 Venue: Aviva Stadium Kick-off: 15:00 GMT Referee: Luke Pearce (England) Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Christophe Ridley (England) TMO: Tom Foley (England)
