Ireland vs France LIVE: Six Nations 2023 latest score and updates

Ireland shifted to the 13 channel and then stayed clear for a long time, working hard to prevent France’s kick return from being in danger.

Gael Fikou is given a toning as he tries to take and then Thibaud Flement goes nowhere with his meander to restrict the France forward. Antoine Dupont kicks high, and the French hand taps it back in to allow the visitors to build from inside the Ireland half.

An accurate drill from Ireland, taking the kick smartly, carrying it firmly and then using James Lowe’s big raking left footed punt to clear …

But what happened there? This spidercam hit the wire! The ball lands on the sideline of the Irish 22 and with the French forwards looking puzzled, Lowe’s punt is prematurely stopped. Ireland will have the scrum feed after a strange start.

Ireland vs France underway!

France would start things off, in the richest of blues. Antoine Dupont warms up the legs with a knit and a sprint, and the arms with a throb of his pecs.

The Irish players huddle and prepare for a reception. No. 1 vs No. 2, a potential Six Nations decider – here it is!

An Anglo-Australian alliance is controlling proceedings today.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (Eng) ARs: Matthew Carly (Eng) and Jordan Way (AUS) TMO: Brendan Pickerill (NZL)

Nearly 40 chartered flights of French origin landed in Dublin today, a measure of the weight of support for this illustrious side, and the traveling fans made themselves heard with loud roars of “La Marseillaise”. porous.

Heartfelt renditions of “Amhran na Bhafian” and “The Call of Ireland”, although perhaps a little apprehension on the faces of some of the Irish players? It seems a more important competition to win for the hosts – they are the top-ranked team in the world, but have yet to win a Six Nations title under Andy Farrell.

Michael D Higgins, the Irish President, pauses for a brass band salute as he walks out to meet the two teams and officials. Johnny Sexton introduced him to the Irish players one-by-one, with Higgins stopping by for a warm word to Connor Murray early in the week following that worrying family news – it’s good to see Murray able to get involved.

Oddly, Ireland have a trio of half-centuries today – congratulations to James Ryan, Andrew Porter and Dave Kilcoyne, who lead both sides out of the tunnel and get a great ovation from the home crowd. It looks like all three are having fun in some company.

The rest 23 are already jumping in at the Aviva Stadium soon after.

Start coming soon. For the first time in men’s championship history, it is number one versus number two in the world, with France on a 14-match unbeaten run looking to end Ireland’s own home winning streak of 12 matches. The days of the Six Nations don’t get any bigger.

“We’re under no illusions about the size of the task. We’re in a good rhythm at the moment, but we weren’t very happy with our form last week, so hopefully we can pick it up.”

“It’s been intense, put it that way! We were pretty intense here at the stadium yesterday. We can’t complain about the preparation – game on!”