France finish on a high

It was a  pleasing end to the tournament for the hosts, who have played their part in a stunning World Cup, and Ireland too should take great heart from how they picked themselves up from their tough defeat mid-week.

This was a brutally physical match with both sides giving it their all and entertaining a massive crowd with a game that ebbed and flowed right into the final minutes.

Ireland should have scored on the five minute mark but an overlap was wasted and Sophie Spence was held up. It didn't matter because after a couple of forward surges a few minutes later, Niamh Briggs was over the line for the opening try.

France came straight back at them though with some nice running with Sandrine Agircole coming close but stopped by a Briggs tackle, before they went back to basics and drove over for their first try via a driving maul.

France were getting the squeeze on the scrum but Ireland did have the chance to go ahead with a long range Briggs effort which was wide. She had another shot minutes later which went over and Ireland took the lead.

Then a sad sight as Agricole was stretchered off in her final ever game for her country but France were continuing to pile the pressure on up front and after several goes at the line, Jessy Tremouliere went over in the corner for her side to take a narrow lead.

The game continued in hugely physical fashion - with Marjorie Mayans providing two of the hits of the day in midfield. Briggs though kicked a penalty and then Ireland scored a superb try through Grace Davitt who chipped, collected and dotted down to give Ireland a 15-12 lead at the break.

France tore into it after halftime with Christelle Le Duff having an early shot at goal and then the French maul getting going to knock Ireland onto the back foot. From one maul the ball came wide and a lovely pass from Mayans led Elodie Guiglion over for the try and France were back ahead.

Ireland’s scrum was a source of problems all day and it continued as the half wore on with France growing more and more dominant. But as ever, Briggs helped Ireland back into it.  A nice Tania Rosser dart fed the fullback and Ireland won a penalty with Briggs kicking it over from 35 metres and with it Ireland were back in front.

The lead didn’t last long as France continued to pressure Ireland in the tight exchanges and after another mini maul Tremouliere kicked a penalty for a  two point lead.

Ireland went right back down the other end and had a chance a few metres out but for a spill from the line out and Briggs was wide and short with a penalty effort.

Small errors meant Ireland never could quite get within distance of getting back into it and the French held out for the win which was capped off by an excellent last ditch try from Guiglion who scored in the corner in the final play.

IRELAND:Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemians/Munster); Ashleigh Baxter (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Grace Davitt (Cooke/Ulster), Jenny Murphy (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Alison Miller (Portlaoise/Connacht); Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Tania Rosser (Blackrock/Leinster); Fiona Coghlan (UL Bohemians/Leinster) (capt), Gillian Bourke (UL Bohemians/Munster), Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Sophie Spence (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Marie Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Siobhan Fleming (Tralee/Munster), Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht), Paula Fitzpatrick (St. Mary's College/Leinster).

Replacements: Sharon Lynch (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Kerrie-Ann Craddock (Saracens/Exile), Heather O'Brien (Highfield/Munster), Laura Guest (Highfield/Munster), Larissa Muldoon (Bristol/Exile), Jackie Shiels (Richmond/Exile), Hannah Casey (Saracens/Exile).

FRANCE:Jessy Tremoulière (Romagnat); Shannon Izar (Lille), Elodie Poublan (Montpellier), Marjorie Mayans (Saint-Orens), Elodie Guiglion (Perpignan); Sandrine Agricole (Rennes), Jennifer Troncy (Montpellier); Lise Arricaste (Lons), Gaelle Mignot (Montpellier) (capt), Christelle Chobet (Lons), Sandra Rabier (Ovalie Caennaise), Assa Koita (Bobigny), Koumiba Djossouvi (Montpellier), Laetitia Grand (Lons), Safi N'Diaye (Montpellier).

Replacements: Laetitia Salles (Lons), Elodie Portaries (Montpellier), Manon André (Saint-Orens), Comba Diallo (Bobigny), Caroline Ladagnous (Lons), Christelle Le Duff (Perpignan), Yanna Rivoalen (Lille).