Eric Elwood's unbeaten run as Ireland Under-20 coach came to an end in Auch tonight as France fought hard for this three-try win.
Queen's University winger Chris Cochrane flew over under the posts for Ireland's only try, 18 minutes in, and the visitors trailed by 14-10 at half-time.
Martin Dufficy, the Dublin University number 10, kicked a penalty for 14-13 after French prop Nicolas Agnesi was sin-binned for fighting.
But a Mathieu Belie penalty and converted try from Wesley Fofana put France out of sight.
The French suffered a considerable blow before kick-off when their imposingly-built centre Mathieu Bastareaud had to cry off with a calf injury.
The Stade Francais clubman, so devastating against Scotland last week, was replaced by Charles Gimenez of Toulouse.
Keen to impress after failing to score a try in their 6-0 defeat of Italy seven days ago, Ireland played a high tempo game and comfortably lived with the hosts for the first 40 minutes.
Eric Elwood's side conceded the first points of the match in the 14th-minute, slightly against the run of play.
Ireland had some good phases before French scrum-half Thierry Lacrampe was allowed too much space in midfield and he sniped over from 10 metres out.
His half-back partner Belie converted for 7-0 but the home side got a taste of how tough this game would be when Ireland struck back just four minutes later.
An excellent team move, with backs and forwards combining, ended with Cochrane racing in off his left wing to score under the posts. Dufficy, Ireland's only scorer against Italy, added the extras to tie up the game.
The open and flowing rugby continued from both sides. France moved 14-7 ahead in the 24th-minute when Vincent Mehn passed to Gimenez and the outside centre had little difficulty in muscling over from five metres out.
Belie once again made it a seven-pointer and it took some solid defensive work from the visitors, with David Nolan and Patrick Mallon particularly prominent, to stop the French from scoring again before the break.
As it was, a well-struck 32nd-minute penalty from Dufficy proved to be the final scoring act of an entertaining first half, which left Ireland with a 14-10 deficit to overcome.
The French, managed by legendary former centre Philippe Sella, began the second half brightly and were camped in the Irish 22 for a long period before the visitors won a relieving penalty.
Stephen Douglas and Paul Ryan were to the forefront of an inspiring maul from the Irish in the 44th-minute, which gained them 15 metres.
Ireland did well all night at scrum time, but the introduction of Clermont Auvergne's Clement Ric bolstered the French scrum and evened things up considerably.
The game looked to have changed in Ireland's favour in the 65th-minute when French loosehead prop Nicolas Agnesi was sin-binned for his part in a short brawl and Dufficy landed the subsequent penalty kick for a 14-13 scoreline.
But the French rallied superbly and the yellow card seemed to inspire the hosts who scored 10 points without replying in the closing 15 miniutes.
Ireland looked to keep their opponents on the back foot and force them into mistakes but French full-back Julien Dumora put in some excellent kicks to touch during this time.
Some ill-discipline at the breakdown cost Ireland dearly as Belie fired over an excellent penalty in the 74th-minute for 17-13.
'Les Bleuets' then drove home the final nail in the coffin, six minutes later, when a simple case of numbers out wide saw the fleet-footed Fofana charge over with Belie once again converting.
Scorers:
France: Tries: Thierry Lacrampe, Charles Gimenez, Wesley Fofana; Cons: Mathieu Belie 3; Pen: Mathieu Belie
Ireland: Try: Chris Cochrane; Con: Martin Dufficy; Pens: Martin Dufficy 2.
Stadium Jacques Fouroux
