Both sides had a point to prove after the opening round of RBS 6 Nations Championship matches but it was France, defeated 20-16 by Scotland last Sunday, who emerged triumphant.

Cedric Heymans and David Marty ran in two tries each while Aurelien Rougerie and Olivier Magne also crossed as the pre-tournament favourites enjoyed a return to winning ways.

The outcome owed as much to Ireland’s blunders as French brilliance with only one of the home side’s tries – Heymans’ second – created purely by their own skill.

Eddie O’Sullivan’s men trailed 43-3 in the 48th minute but launched a stirring fightback as France became disjointed in the wake of several substitutions from Bernard Laporte.

Les Bleus thought the game was won and took their foot of the pedal, allowing Ireland to pounce with tries from Ronan O’Gara, Gordon D’Arcy, Donncha O’Callaghan and Andrew Trimble.

But France’s lead was just too large to overcome and the final blow was delivered when skipper Brian O’Driscoll limped off injured shortly before the end.

Ireland have won just five times in Paris since 1945 and that sequence looked safe right from the start when France made a blistering opening.

Ireland were pushed back at two consecutive scrums but there was worse to come with their line breached in just the third minute.

The second buckling scrum saw the ball released to the backs where Tommy Bowe’s missed tackle on Heymans created an overlap which Rougerie – recalled to the side on Thursday – finished in the right corner.

O’Driscoll made a couple of darting runs as Ireland searched for an immediate reply and scrum-half Peter Stringer almost wriggled over before being shoved back.

But their good work was undone when France ran in their second try thanks to the vision of Heymans whose quickly taken 22 drop-out found space on the left.

Denis Leamy and Geordan Murphy covered across but the ball bounced cruelly and fell to the onrushing Frederic Michalak who supplied the scoring pass to Magne.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde added the two points and the problems continued for Ireland when one promising move ended with openside David Wallace running out of space with no support.

By the 18th minute Ireland looked dead and buried as France had extended their lead to 19 points after David Marty charged down Ronan O’Gara’s clearance, gathered and touched down. Elissalde converted.

Ireland looked to bring in Shane Horgan off the wing as often as possible and the tactic worked with the Leinster winger frequently crossing the gain line.

But they were often losing the ball at the breakdown with France’s back row gaining ascendancy in the loose.

O’Driscoll lost the ball in the tackle as Ireland probed down the left touchline, allowing France to clear their lines, while Murphy and Gordon D’Arcy sent two passes into touch, squandering valuable possession.

O’Gara booted Ireland off the mark with a penalty but Elissalde replied in kind and it was not long before France had extended their lead with a fourth try.

O’Sullivan will be furious with the manner in which it was scored as Murphy floated a loose pass to no-one in particular and the impressive Heymans easily intercepted and romped home.

Elissalde booted the extras to give France a 29-3 interval lead which Ireland had no hope of overcoming given their desperate lack of direction in attack.

France extended their lead four minutes into the second half with a powerful run from Rougerie, who had come off his wing, doing the damage in midfield.

Marty was on hand to continue the move before the ball was spun wide to Heymans who made light work of the simple run-in and Elissalde rubbed salt into Ireland’s wounds by kicking the conversion.

Just when Ireland thought it could not get any worse it did three minutes later as O’Gara kicked the ball straight at Marty who caught and dashed over the whitewash from 20 yards out.

Murphy provided some inspiration as the Irish went close to crossing, breaking from deep before the ball found Wallace via D’Arcy only for the Munster openside to be tackled five metres short.

The visitors maintained the pressure by launching waves of attacks and eventually the French defence collapsed with O’Gara scampering home and the converting his own try.

Ireland hit back again in the 70th minute with D’Arcy finishing a break from Stringer as a raft of substitutions had left France looking disjointed.

Donncha O’Callaghan barged over and O’Gara converted to slash the deficit to 43-24 and there were a few worried faces when O’Driscoll set up Ireland’s fourth try for Trimble.

But they could not add to the score in the last 10 minutes as relieved France held out for the victory.