Ireland have finished their pool campaign at the Rugby World Cup with a 100% record, defeating France 24-9 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff this evening.
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France showed signs of nerves with their kicking game in the opening stages of the match as Frederic Michalak and Scott Spedding both missed chances to open the scoring, although Jonny Sexton was able to boot the opening points of the encounter down the other end.
Penalties continued to dominate the opening 25 minutes of the closely-contested first half in front of a vocal crowd in Cardiff, with Spedding making a couple for France, while Sexton maintained his 100% record.
The Ireland fly-half had to go off with a rib injury though, leaving Ian Madigan to assume the kicking duties, but he quickly restored his side's lead just moments after coming off the replacements bench.
Both sides had chances to get the opening try on the board before half time, but Keith Earls spilled the ball following a blistering run from Tommy Bowe, while Wesley Fofana went over, only to see play called back for a knock on.
There was a further injury blow for Ireland on the cusp of half time though as captain Paul O'Connell, who will retire at the end of this tournament, remained on the pitch for several minutes after appearing to injure his knee, eventually leaving the field on a stretcher.
Ireland made a determined start to the second half following the loss of their captain, with Tommy Bowe and Conor Murray both involved in setting up Rob Kearney for a leap over in the right corner to score the opening try of the contest.
Joe Schmidt's side were soon pressing for a second try as Cian Healy, Earls and Chris Henry all trying to create something, but France fought back, with Morgan Parra closing the gap to five points with just under 20 minutes remaining.
France continued to see more of the ball as the final 10 minutes approached, with Parra involved again as he tried to set up Brice Dulin for a score, but the Ireland defence held firm.
The Ireland supporters soon had something else to cheer though as Jack McGrath tried to power through under the posts, being held up just short, but still able to get the ball to Conor Murray, setting up the scrum-half for the team's second try.
The result sets up a quarter-final with Argentina, which will take place in Cardiff next weekend.
Sian Cowper
