Four penalty goals, and a drop-goal by Geordan Murphy, saw the home side take the advantage but France fought back in the second-half after trailing by nine at the interval.

The swirling wind caused all sorts of problems for both sides but it could not prevent Geordan Murphy opening the scoring with just 60 seconds on the clock.

Prop Sylvain Marconnet's handling let him down on the French 22 and, from the first scrum of the game, the full-back took Peter Stringer's pass and calmly slotted over the three-pointer from 35 metres out.

France's early threat came from the surging runs of centre Damien Traille and they should have scored a try on seven minutes when the visiting forwards mauled to within a couple of feet of the Irish line only for hooker Raphael Ibanez to fumble the ball as he eyed glory.

A timely, if unlikely, interception by lock Malcolm O'Kelly broke up another lively French raid and, although the Lion was inevitably hunted down after a 40-metre gallop, it set the position for Ireland to increase the lead.

The French were caught offside 20 metres out and David Humphreys judged the wind perfectly to curl the ball through the uprights to make it 6-0.

Francois Gelez, who scored 18 points in his side's win over Scotland a fortnight ago, pulled three points back on 14 minutes when Ireland strayed offside and he slotted over a 40-metre penalty.

Humphreys added his second penalty in the 32nd minute as France gave away a penalty for hands on the floor after a Kevin Maggs break.

Five minutes later lock Gary Longwell went off with an injured knee, with Leo Cullen taking his place.

Ireland just had time to add another penalty before the break - Humphreys with an excellent strike to lead by nine at the interval.

Having failed to master the blustery conditions in the first half, Gelez was happy with the wind at his back and he clawed back three points with a second successful penalty just four minutes into the second half.

Humphreys then lost his 100% record when slicing his kick at goal and that miss began to look costly when Gelez slotted over a long-range kick on 52 minutes to cut the deficit to three points.

The game had clearly begun to swing France’s way and they ought to have made more of another break from the impressive Magne.

As the rain once more began to fall steadily, handling became even more precarious and the prospects of a try receded still further.

However Humphreys added his own penalty as France were penalized for off-side in the 71st minute. A minute later Gelez pulled the gap back to three points with a penalty kick of his own.

Ireland fought back and were unfortunate as Marcus Horan was inches from the line before the ball was knocked from his hand. France battled in the last few furious minutes, but Ireland held on for a slim win.