France lay down marker to rest of Six Nations by sweeping aside Ireland - catch us if you can

The French were rampant in the opening hour in front of a passionate home support. Winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey was at his blistering best and the Bordeaux-Begles speedster showed why he is regarded as one of the best in the world with two tries. The French backs displayed creativity in abundance and the experienced duo of Gael Fickou and Damian Penaud, who were left out of the squad by head coach French head coach Fabien Galthie, were not missed.

Nevertheless, France did suffer a slight wobble towards the end of the match as Ireland rediscovered their composure and scored two tries. There was a brief flicker of an improbable comeback, but the visitors simply left themselves with too much to do.

Shorn of a plethora of veteran players, Ireland resembled rabbits in the headlights at the beginning of the match and were unable to cope with the wave of French attacks. They shipped 29 unanswered points but they deserve credit for not folding cheaply.

The French do not return to the Stade de France until the final match against England, with their next home match against Italy to be played in Lille. Their next assignment is in Cardiff a week on Sunday and the likelihood is that they could be facing the Red Rose going for the title.

Les Bleus claimed the crown last season but did not complete a clean sweep. The expectation is that they should do so this time around and parts of this performance will not dissuade people.

France so nearly took the lead inside two minutes. The ball was sprayed out to Bielle-Biarrey by Yoram Moefana and his delicate chip almost sent Anthony Jelonch in, but the No 8 could not gather and Ireland breathed a sigh of relief.

France had started well but Ireland relieved some pressure with an exceptional 50/22 by Jamie Osborne that set up a promising attack from a lineout, but Josh van der Flier's poor handling coughed up a knock-on.

France open the scoring

Both teams were happy to trade aerial blows and then France landed the opening try on 13 minutes when Moefana set Bielle-Biarrey down the line once more. This time he was able to squirm down the line and finish emphatically. Thomas Ramos added the extras and France were 7-0 to the good. There were, however, some questions over Moefana's pass, which had a whiff of going forward about it. The officials were satisfied.

France had their tails up and Depoortere was thwarted by Tommy O'Brien inside the goal area as Les Bleus went searching for a second try. But they were not to be denied. Pressure was put on in the resulting scrum and Matthieu Jalibert was sent in. Ramos hit the post with the conversion and France led 12-0 after 22 minutes.

Ramos clocked up another three points from a penallty and Charles Ollivon then finished off a fine move, with Ramos adding the conversion, to make it 22-0 at the break.

Ireland have not often been in this position under head coach Andy Farrell and they did make a rally in the second half, France struck the next and decisive blow on 57 minutes.

It came from Bielle-Biarrey. Who else? Captain Antoine Dupont chipped the ball over the top of the Irish defence and Ramos poked the ball out wide with his feet to send the winger through for a gorgeously-worked try.

Two minutes later, Ireland did get themselves on the scoresheet with a nice try of their own through Nick Timoney, with Sam Prendergast adding the conversion. And then two minutes later, replacement prop Mitchell Milne drove over and after a TMO review, the score was given. Prendergast was good with the kick.

This sparked Ireland's best spell of the match and they were denied a try on the 70-minute mark when Ronan Kelleher crossed, but after a review, the try wasn't given for a knock-on. "I've no idea what has happened," said honest referee Karl Dickson after the ball darted out of a ruck.

That took any remaining wind out of the Irish sails and France finished the game strongly. They wanted to have the last laugh and it came via Theo Attissogbe as he finished classily in the corner. Ramos landed a tricky conversion and the bonus-point win was sealed with a French kiss.

This was a marker laid down by France to the rest of the Six Nations field. They mean business as they lifted the Solidarity Trophy. Ireland lick their wounds before welcoming Italy to Dublin. That becomes a must-win if they are to have a say in this tournament. "We left ourselves too tall a mountain to climb," admitted their captain Caelan Doris. "We couldn't find our feet in the first 30 minutes. It's a very disappointing way to start the campaign."

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