France 38-17 Ireland: French in five-try win over brave Irish in Six Nations opener
France ran in five tries to open the Women's Six Nations with a solid 38-17 win over a much-improved Ireland.
The French led 17-3 at half-time in Le Mans but Ireland were resolute in defence and scored two late tries from Aoife Wafer and Aoife Dalton.
The hosts rarely hit top gear but still had a bonus point after 62 minutes.
France are away to Scotland next week while Ireland are at home to Italy and after this display, will be targeting a home win in Dublin on Easter Sunday.
Ireland show signs of improvement
France ran in nine tries in a 53-3 rout of Ireland in Cork last year, in a disappointing campaign for the Irish which ended with the Wooden Spoon.
The French may have expected a similarly one-sided game when Pauline Bourdon Sansus scored the opening try after just three minutes in Stade Marie-Marvingt.
The hosts developed early momentum off their maul and the scrum-half, the outstanding player of the first half, spun off the back of the maul and darted through the defence.
Lina Queyroi converted, but it soon became evident that the Ireland defence would be able to repel a lot of what the hosts had to offer in attack.
The cover tackles and scramble defence from Ireland was superb and they were able to put enough pressure on to force the French into handling errors.
The Irish players' confidence grew with each turnover and the visitors deservedly got some points on the board in the 14th minute when the French conceded a scrum penalty and fly-half Nicole Fowley landed a penalty.
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