5 Things You Missed: France 36-14 Ireland - Six Nations ignites with Louis Bielle-Biarrey brace

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It took 14 minutes for the first try would be scored for the 2026 Men's Six Nations, with Louis Bielle-Biarrey picking up from where he left off from last year's competition. After bagging a record eight tries and being named 2025 Player of the Championship, the Boardeaux-Begles speedster skipped past the tackle attempts from Sam Prendergast and Jacob Stockdale, to get France their first points of their title defence. A well struck conversion from Thomas Ramos built up the seven-point lead.

France began to flex their muscles, with Les Bleus content with pinning the pressure on Andy Farrell's side. A blistering break saw several offloads sewn together, before Sam Prendergast's interception then saw the out-half carry the ball back beyond his own try-line. The subsequent scrum laid the foundations for France's second try, as Matthieu Jalibert waltzed past Tommy O'Brien and the Prendergast brothers.

Ramos struck the post with the following conversion, yet this uncharacteristic miss would soon be rectified. A needless penalty from Joe McCarthy handed the fullback another crack at the posts, with Ramos re-finding his shooting boots for a three-pointer after 22 minutes, to strengthen the 15-0 lead. The relentless tempo continued from Les Bleus, with Charles Ollivon next over to score following Jalibert's inch-perfect chip chase and a breathless series of quick passes to send the lock over the line.

The second half commenced with an astonishing piece of individual brilliance. Thomas Ramos volleyed the ball mid-tackle, to send Bielle-Biarrey beyond the Ireland defence to collect his second try just seven minutes after the break. Another swift bit of footballing from Ramos added the extras, as France picked up the bonus point.

It took almost an hour, but Ireland got their first points on the board mid-way through the second half. Jack Crowley stepped up to first reciever, to ship a pass to Prendergast. The Leinster out-half held his line with a neat dummy, and found Stuart McClosey on the hard line. The centre linked up with his Ulster teammate Nick Timoney, to round off a stunning team move from the visitors.

Ireland rode this wave of momentum back over the French try-line, with the second score dotting down just four minutes later. After a series of short drives to the line, Tadhg Beirne popped a pass off to his Munster teammate Michael Milne, for the replacement prop to muscle his way across the whitewash.

France closed out the match with another stylish score, as Theo Attissogbe raced free for the fifth try. Jalibert claimed the assist with a stunning miss-pass, with Attissogbe too fast for Jack Crowley to contain upon his cover tackle attempt.

TRIES: 5 (Bielle-Biarrey 14', 47', Jalibert 22', Ollivon 35', Attissgobe 80'

CONVERSIONS: 3 (Ramos 14', 35', 47')

PENALTIES: 1 (Ramos 27')

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 0

STARTING XV:

REPLACEMENTS: 15. Thomas Ramos 14. Théo Attissogbe 13. Nicolas Depoortère 12. Yoram Moefana 11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey 10. Matthieu Jalibert 9. Antoine Dupont (c) 1. Jean-Baptiste Gros 2. Julien Marchand 3. Dorian Aldegheri 4. Charles Ollivon 5. Mickaël Guillard 6. François Cros 7. Oscar Jegou 8. Anthony Jelonch

Replacements: 16. Peato Mauvaka 17. Rodrigue Neti 18. Régis Montagne 19. Hugo Auradou 20. Emmanuel Meafo 21. Lenni Nouchi 22. Baptiste Serin 23. Kalvin Gourgues

TRIES: 2 (Timoney 59', Milne 63')

CONVERSIONS: 2 (Prendergast 59', 63')

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 0

STARTING XV: 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Tommy O'Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Stuart McCloskey 11. Jacob Stockdale 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park 1. Jeremy Loughman 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Cian Prendergast 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Ronan Kelleher 17. Michael Milne 18. Finlay Bealham 19. James Ryan 20. Jack Conan 21. Nick Timoney 22. Craig Casey 23. Jack Crowley

It only took 14 minutes, but once again the scrum-capped speedster Louis Bielle-Biarrey is off the mark for the 2026 Guinness Men's Six Nations. The 2025 Player of the Tournament had an unforgettable campaign, as he crossed over for a record breaking eight tries across the quintet of matches. The Union Bordeaux-Begles man is already off the mark with a stunning brace, as he hopes to eclipse his previous record and march Les Bleus onward to a successful title retention.

Towards the end of the action in the Stade de France, there was a serious contention for a yellow card to be brandished in the City of Light. With the backs pinned upon their own try-line, Ireland were defending for their pride, as the match was out of sight as a competitive contest.

Leinster lock James Ryan made the rash decision to land a late hit on France fly half Matthieu Jalibert, as the Bordeaux man sent a kick out to the wide channels for some air-born attack. The result was a sea of boos from the impassioned French fans, with a replay on the big screen showing Ryan's hit on Jalibert in bone-crunching slow motion. However, the late hit was adjudged as a legal one by the referee core, with Ireland lucky to finish the match with 15 men.

In what was a difficult evening for Ireland, they found two bright sparks courtesy of an Ulster duo. To begin with, centre Stuart McCloskey stepped up to the midfield mantle, to fill the void left by the banned Bundee Aki. McCloskey had a starring role in the centre of the park, as he disrupted the vibrant French attack, carried at the gain-line and gelled the forwards and backs together with a seamless fruition.

McCloskey's starring moment came as he crashed onto Sam Prendergast's pass, to blitz through the France defensive line. The midfielder had his eyes up, as he shipped a stunning off-load mid-tackle to Nick Timoney, with his Belfast brother-in-arms able to carry on the attacking move. Timoney capped off the link play with a trip across the whitewash, in what was a top moment from his own stand-out shift.

An iconic moment from the match, saw Thomas Ramos execute an audacious volley in the lead up to Louis Bielle-Biarrey's second score. The Stade Toulousain fullback raced onto a loose ball, with Ireland scrum half Jamison Gibson-Park in hot pursuit.

The Leinster nine nailed Ramos with a well timed hit, but only after Ramos had stuck his falling boot onto the ball to send the Boardeaux man out into the back-field. It was a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment from the talented French fullback, with the clip already re-watched thousands of times in the viral moment.

Despite starting the match on the bench at the Stade de France, there was plenty for Jack Crowley to get involved with upon his replacement appearence in Paris. Crowley took a back seat to Sam Prendergast for the start at fly half, but a tough evening on the defensive foot could once again ask questions of Prendergasts' standing within the out-half pecking order.

Crowley had a solid outing as he entered the fray at fullback. Andy Farrell re-shuffled his back-three to take off right wing Tommy O'Brien, with Jamie Osborne then shipped out to the touchline. The move feels not too dissimilar to Steve Borthwick using Marcus Smith as a fullback option for England, despite how the Harlequin is a week-in, week-out fly half for his club. It's intriguing to see Farrell deploy Crowley in an adapted role, as the Munster man stepped up with some nice involvements, including a role in the opening Ireland try.