Fighting spirit was good to see, says Farrell

IRELAND coach hailed his side’s fighting spirit as they confirmed their status as tournament favourites.

“It was a huge game, two great teams going at each other,” Farrell said. “It is a victory in a competition that we want to do well in. The fighting spirit was great but we also played some great stuff.

“I think we could have come away with a few more points but we won’t be greedy because we got the bonus point.

“They are a world-class side but we expected to go out there, perform and win. I’m sure there will be many battles down the line as well.”

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton said: “It was a special day, the French supporters came over in numbers and made themselves heard and our fans were brilliant. It came down to chances, we didn’t take as many as we would have liked which made it difficult but the lads held strong for the win.

“When a new coach comes in and they bring a new style of play it takes time. The last time we played them here was in Covid times and we got well beaten, last year was better but today we showed a true account of ourselves.

“It was a hell of a game and if everything goes to plan in the World Cup we may play them again in the knockout stages.”

Hugo Keenan said: “It’s hard to sum it up in one word. The French are an incredible side and it showed out there as we had to work for the whole 80 minutes.

“Our fast start was important and then our bench came on and made a big difference.

“It was a long time coming, it was the one we were focusing on so it was brilliant that we got it.”

France skipper Antoine Dupont said. “For the moment, obviously it’s a lot of disappointment, we can see the result, they have the bonus points and we’ve come away with nothing,” he said.

“We will have to recover and continue fighting hard in this tournament because it is not over. We know that a lot can still happen.”