Romain Ntamack scored two tries as France Under-20s opened their Six Nations campaign with a 34-24 win over Ireland in a thrilling encounter in Bordeaux.
The Toulouse fly-half crossed twice in a first half dominated by Les Bleuets, but they were made to sweat by the Irish who hit back with three second-half tries.
In the end though, the French proved too strong, taking all five points and denying their opponents anything as Harry Byrne missed a late penalty attempt after a previously flawless night with the boot.
France started quickly with a penalty from Ntamack and were able to get on the front foot in the opening exchanges.
It was the Toulouse fly-half, son of France legend Emile, who then scored the first try, spotting a gap after the Irish defence had held out under the assault of the French forwards. Ntamack cut through and then slid over, converting his own try to make it 10-0 after 13 minutes.
Ireland responded with a good scrum, earning a penalty that allowed Byrne to get the visitors on the board with a fine kick at goal.
France hit straight back with a try from a rolling maul, Ibrahim Diallo peeling off the back to crash over.
Ntamack could not convert, but was soon over for his second try. The fly-half combined with his hooker Maxime Lamothe and then showed great pace to race through a gap and over from 30 metres. From out wide, Ntamack’s conversion made it 22-3 at the break.
The start of the second half was fairly even, with both teams enjoying opportunities, but it was the Irish who struck first.
A clever grubber from Byrne caught the French out, and Iban Etcheverry tackled Michael Silvester without the ball, conceding a penalty try and earning a yellow card for his troubles.
Back to 22-10, Ireland sensed it was their chance to strike, setting up camp back in the French 22.
And from a rolling maul, it was the experienced Jonny Stewart who spotted a gap down the flank where Etcheverry was missing and streaked over. Byrne’s conversion from the touchline cut the deficit back to five points with 20 minutes remaining.
France found themselves under real pressure, but hit back with a bonus point score out of nowhere. Louis Carbonel’s kick through caused the Irish back three to scramble. Maxence Lemardelet put the pressure on for Les Bleuets and his inadvertent chargedown allowed Jules Gimbert to dot down the fourth try.
However the Irish were not done yet, hitting back with a fantastic counter-attacking score from James McCarthy after great build-up work. Byrne’s conversion made it 27-24 with eight minutes to go.
Their hopes of a comeback victory proved in vain though, with France controlling the remaining minutes and eventually crossing for a try through replacement prop Demba Bamba.
