Ireland 18-11 France
Johnny Sexton negotiated two bloody clashes of heads with Mathieu Bastareaud to mastermind Ireland's stubborn 18-11 RBS 6 Nations victory over France in Dublin.
Sexton fired 15 points in Ireland's ninth consecutive victory on his return from a 12-week concussion lay-off to set up a potential Six Nations title decider with England on 1 March.
Fit-again Sexton fully vindicated the decision to throw him into action after an enforced three-month absence, leaving Joe Schmidt's men and England the only unbeaten teams in the tournament.
France lock Romain Taofifenua bundled in for a late try to set up a frenetic finish, but reigning champions Ireland held firm to keep their title defence on track.
Earlier this week, former France star Laurent Benezech had branded Ireland's decision to field Sexton a "big mistake". As pressure mounted in midweek, the IRFU issued a terse Friday night statement, saying they had refused to risk their star asset in first-round action against Italy.
When Sexton himself had a chance to vindicate his selection, however, the former Leinster playmaker offered the most compelling argument of all.
Now the Ireland juggernaut rolls on under taskmaster boss Schmidt, with the also unbeaten England pitching up in Dublin in two weeks' time.
Bastareaud pressure
Sexton vowed during the week the "first tackle will get me into the game" after all the talk of France sending battering-ram centre Bastareaud down his channel.
The 29-year-old fly-half was as good as his word when that first challenge came, enveloping Toulon's express-train midfielder through the much-vaunted choke tackle tactic.
Those partisan outside observers who had predicted pandemonium when 17-stone Bastareaud pounded into Sexton were left confounded as Ireland's peerless pivot forced a telling turnover.
Sexton consolidated his unflustered start by slotting a tricky penalty to hand Ireland first blood.
Camille Lopez levelled for France, but collected conductor Sexton responded in kind to edge his side 6-3 ahead as Guilhem Guirado spoiled Ireland's ruck ball illegally.
As the game became ever more tense, France were hounded by the choke tackle, Sexton constraining Bastareaud again, and Rory Best forced another turnover. Sexton and Lopez traded penalties to leave Ireland 9-6 ahead, the hosts battling to diffuse France's preclusion for everything off-the-cuff.
Sexton's fourth goal moved Ireland 12-6 ahead, and so the scores stayed until the break.
At the start of the second half, Kearney hurtled on to Sexton's searching Garryowen to launch the first attack of the period, but a knock-on in Ireland's 22 stymied the move.
Bastareaud felled Sexton in a nasty-looking but unintentional clash of heads, and both players had to leave the field for blood injuries.
Both men copped cuts above their eyes, and a fair old clattering.
France replaced their entire front-row in the 50th minute, sending the Six Nations' heaviest man, Uini Atonio, into the fray.
Amide frantic exchanges, Ian Madigan edged Ireland's lead to 15-6 from the tee with Sexton still receiving treatment.
France then began to seize the initiative. Les Bleus' power replacements added tempo and bite to the visitors, who ground into the home 22, but Peter O'Mahony forced a vital turnover. A crucial incident saw France lock Pascal Pape kneeing Jamie Heaslip in a ruck - he was sin-binned after a video review.
Bastareaud returned to the fray while Ireland quashed an attempted France break, allowing the break in play for Sexton to step back into action too.
And Sexton raced close straight away, only to fire a pass straight into Jared Payne's face, allowing France to clear their lines.
Just past the hour, Ireland hooker Best was sin-binned for a trip, bringing parity to the numbers on the pitch - but Lopez shanked the resulting penalty.
French attacks
That yellow card for Best card buoyed France into a string of attacks, only for Ireland to again hold firm. Ireland then sent their front-row cavalry into action and gained immediate scrum dividend, winning a penalty to clear their lines. They edged forward, forced a penalty and Sexton duly stretched the home lead to 18-6.
However the home resistance could not hold and replacement lock Romain Taofifenua claimed his first Six Nations try after the most free flowing move of the game.
Lopez scuffed the attempted conversion and Ireland held on to their 18-11 lead.
By this stage Ireland were desperately battling France's all-out onslaught, with Les Bleus liable to strike on any phase. France forced their attack until overtime in the final play, only for Simon Zebo to force Yoann Huget into touch, sealing the victory amid jubilant scenes in the stands.
Ireland: Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe, Jared Payne, Robbie Henshaw, Simon Zebo, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Mike Ross, Devin Toner, Paul O'Connell (c), Peter O'Mahony, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Martin Moore, Iain Henderson, Jordi Murphy, Isaac Boss, Ian Madigan, Felix Jones.
France: Scott Spedding, Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Teddy Thomas, Camille Lopez, Rory Kockott; Eddy Ben Arous, Guilhem Guirado, Rabah Slimani, Pascal Pape, Yoann Maestri, Thierry Dusautoir, Bernard Le Roux, Damien Chouly
Replacements: Benjamin Kayser, Uini Atonio, Vincent Debaty, Romain Taofifenua, Loann Goujon, Morgan Parra, Remi Tales, Remi Lamerat.
