IT WAS A DISAPPOINTING evening for Ireland at Stade Marcel Michelin in Clermont on Saturday as France produced a dominant second half display to get the better of Scott Bemand’s side in the third round of the Women’s Six Nations.
Level at 7-7 during the interval of an often attritional encounter, France registered 19 unanswered points on the restart to leave Ireland with two defeats from their opening three games of the 2026 Championship.
Seeking their first win over France since 2017, Ireland gained an early boost when the third minute sin-binning of opposition full-back Pauline Barratt left them with a numerical advantage for an extended spell. This kick-started a relentless period of pressure from the Irish and they appeared to have broken the deadlock when Brittany Hogan powered over the French whitewash on the stroke of 10 minutes.
This score was ultimately ruled out for a double movement from the Sale Sharks back-row, but Ireland nevertheless squeezed in front when Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald applied the finishing touches to a subsequent line-out maul for her 11th try at test level.
While a Dannah O’Brien bonus strike from a tight angle moved her side seven points clear, France restored parity when loosehead prop Ambre Mwayembe crossed over to the left of the Irish posts for a converted score on 16 minutes.
This was a set-back for Ireland following such a strong start to the action, but the Erin King-led away team continued to take the game to their opponents. Although the initial on-field decision was that Fiona Tuite had bagged a try via some neat interplay with second-row partner Dorothy Wall in the 23rd minute, the combined forces of referee Clara Munarini and TMO Stefane Penne deemed that French winger Anaïs Grando had held-up Tuite over the line.
Ireland's Stacey Flood at the end of the game. Dave Winter / INPHO
Dave Winter / INPHO / INPHO
Having two tries chalked off could be viewed as somewhat unfortunate, but Ireland remarkably saw it happening for a third time in the opening period of this contest. Before picking out Moloney-MacDonald for a clinical close-range finish just shy of the half-hour mark, scrum-half Emily Lane was adjudged to have knocked the ball on at an inopportune moment.
Ireland continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession in the remaining stages of the first half, but they had to settle for being on level terms at the interval.
In their opening two games of this year’s tournament, France had struggled to fully impose themselves before the break – only to then turn on the style after the resumption. There was a notable increase in pace and tempo from the home team when the action resumed in this fixture and despite Ireland head coach Bemand introducing five players at once in the 49th minute (he opted for a similar strategy in last weekend’s second round success against Italy in Galway), the French turned the tables on their Championship rivals in fine style.
After keeping Ireland on the back-foot for a prolonged spell, France eventually grabbed their second try on 50 minutes when Carla Arbez side-stepped her way over the whitewash in ruthless fashion. The French fly-half added the extras to her own score and even though there had been a number of encouraging signs up to this point, Ireland were now in arrears for the very first time.
They had an opportunity to bring the deficit back down to four in advance of the game reaching the third-quarter mark, but Arbez’s opposite number O’Brien floated an attacking penalty just past the left-hand post.
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While this came as something of a relief for France, Francois Ratier’s charges were beginning to dictate affairs and it took some strong defensive work from replacement back Anna McGann to prevent them from claiming their third try of the proceedings on 64 minutes.
The pressure from the French attack was now proving to be relentless, however, and a swift move across the Irish defence was finished off in the right-corner by the aforementioned Grando.
This left Ireland with too much to do in the closing moments of the game and even though their victory was already secured, France wrapped up a bonus point when their dynamic No 8 Lea Champon rounded off a patient attack with just over two minutes left to play.
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Ireland battle bravely but France eventually prevail with bonus-point win
France 26
Ireland 7
IT WAS A DISAPPOINTING evening for Ireland at Stade Marcel Michelin in Clermont on Saturday as France produced a dominant second half display to get the better of Scott Bemand’s side in the third round of the Women’s Six Nations.
Level at 7-7 during the interval of an often attritional encounter, France registered 19 unanswered points on the restart to leave Ireland with two defeats from their opening three games of the 2026 Championship.
Seeking their first win over France since 2017, Ireland gained an early boost when the third minute sin-binning of opposition full-back Pauline Barratt left them with a numerical advantage for an extended spell. This kick-started a relentless period of pressure from the Irish and they appeared to have broken the deadlock when Brittany Hogan powered over the French whitewash on the stroke of 10 minutes.
This score was ultimately ruled out for a double movement from the Sale Sharks back-row, but Ireland nevertheless squeezed in front when Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald applied the finishing touches to a subsequent line-out maul for her 11th try at test level.
While a Dannah O’Brien bonus strike from a tight angle moved her side seven points clear, France restored parity when loosehead prop Ambre Mwayembe crossed over to the left of the Irish posts for a converted score on 16 minutes.
This was a set-back for Ireland following such a strong start to the action, but the Erin King-led away team continued to take the game to their opponents. Although the initial on-field decision was that Fiona Tuite had bagged a try via some neat interplay with second-row partner Dorothy Wall in the 23rd minute, the combined forces of referee Clara Munarini and TMO Stefane Penne deemed that French winger Anaïs Grando had held-up Tuite over the line.
Having two tries chalked off could be viewed as somewhat unfortunate, but Ireland remarkably saw it happening for a third time in the opening period of this contest. Before picking out Moloney-MacDonald for a clinical close-range finish just shy of the half-hour mark, scrum-half Emily Lane was adjudged to have knocked the ball on at an inopportune moment.
Ireland continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession in the remaining stages of the first half, but they had to settle for being on level terms at the interval.
In their opening two games of this year’s tournament, France had struggled to fully impose themselves before the break – only to then turn on the style after the resumption. There was a notable increase in pace and tempo from the home team when the action resumed in this fixture and despite Ireland head coach Bemand introducing five players at once in the 49th minute (he opted for a similar strategy in last weekend’s second round success against Italy in Galway), the French turned the tables on their Championship rivals in fine style.
After keeping Ireland on the back-foot for a prolonged spell, France eventually grabbed their second try on 50 minutes when Carla Arbez side-stepped her way over the whitewash in ruthless fashion. The French fly-half added the extras to her own score and even though there had been a number of encouraging signs up to this point, Ireland were now in arrears for the very first time.
They had an opportunity to bring the deficit back down to four in advance of the game reaching the third-quarter mark, but Arbez’s opposite number O’Brien floated an attacking penalty just past the left-hand post.
While this came as something of a relief for France, Francois Ratier’s charges were beginning to dictate affairs and it took some strong defensive work from replacement back Anna McGann to prevent them from claiming their third try of the proceedings on 64 minutes.
The pressure from the French attack was now proving to be relentless, however, and a swift move across the Irish defence was finished off in the right-corner by the aforementioned Grando.
This left Ireland with too much to do in the closing moments of the game and even though their victory was already secured, France wrapped up a bonus point when their dynamic No 8 Lea Champon rounded off a patient attack with just over two minutes left to play.
France scorers:
Tries – Ambre Mwayembe, Carla Arbez, Anaïs Grando, Lea Champon
Conversions – Carla Arbez [3 from 4]
Ireland scorers:
Tries – Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald
Conversions – Dannah O’Brien [1 from 1]
Penalties – Dannah O’Brien [0 from 1]
FRANCE: Pauline Barratt (Lina Queyroi ’65); Anaïs Grando, Aubane Rousset, Teani Feleu, Lea Murie; Carla Arbez, Pauline Bourdon Sansus (Alexandra Chambon ’70); Ambre Mwayembe (Yllan Brosseau ’66), Mathilde Lazarko (Elisa Riffonneaum ’60), Assia Khalfoui (Rose Bernadou ’66); Kiara Zago (Charlotte Escudero half-time), Madoussou Fall Raclot (Cloe Correa ’70); Axelle Bethoumieu (Siobhan Soqeta ’50), Manae Feleu, Lea Champon.
IRELAND: Stacey Flood; Beibhinn Parsons, Aoife Dalton, Nancy McGillivray (Eve Higgins ’49), Robyn O’Connor (Anna McGann ’49); Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane (Katie Whelan ’80); Ellena Perry (Niamh O’Dowd ’49), Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald (Neve Jones ’49), Linda Djougang (Eilis Cahill ’71); Dorothy Wall (Ruth Campbell ’59), Fiona Tuite; Brittany Hogan (Sam Monaghan ’49), Erin King, Aoife Wafer.
Referee: Clara Munarini (Italy).
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Six Nations France Hard Lines Ireland Rugby