Opta Facts: Men’s Six Nations – Ireland v France

– Ireland have won their last two Guinness Men’s Six Nations matches against France, including their most recent by a margin of 21 points (38-17 last year in Marseille)

– That was Ireland’s largest victory over France in over 100 years (24-0 in the 1913 Five Nations). They have won three consecutive games against France just once previously in the Six Nations era (2017-2019)

– Ireland are on a 10-match Men’s Six Six Nations winning run at the Aviva Stadium, their longest ever winning streak at home in any iteration of the Championship. However, their last two home wins have come by margins of just four and five points respectively

– Ireland have trailed at half-time in two of their three 2025 Six Nations encounters (v England and Wales), having led at the interval in each of their preceding 13 Championship outings

– Ireland have not defeated France in Dublin after trailing at half-time since 1928, losing 10 of the 11 games since then when they have trailed at the break (D1)

– France have lost just one of their last seven Men’s Six Nations matches (W5, D1) and won their most recent by a 49-point margin (73-24 v Italy)

– That was les Bleus’ largest ever victory in the Six Nations, and their scoring difference of +91 points is their highest ever after three rounds of a campaign

– France have the highest lineout success rate of any team in this year’s Men’s Six Nations (97%), while Ireland have the lowest (88%)

– Les Bleus also have the Championship’s second best scrum success rate (94%), with Ireland having the worst (85%)

– France have completed 49 offloads in this year’s Men’s Six Nations, at least 16 more than any other team, and 30 more than Ireland

– France have also assisted more tries (4) and line breaks (5) via offloads than any other nation this year

– Ireland have retained possession from 19.4% of their kicks in play during this year’s Men’s Six Nations (18/93), while France have done so from 17.4% of theirs (16/92). They are the two highest kick retention rates of any sides in the 2025 Championship

– Finlay Bealham and Jack Conan could each earn their 50th caps for Ireland this weekend. Conan has scored a try in each of his last two Men’s Six Nations matches, while his first try in the Championship came at home against France in 2019

– France duo Gregory Alldritt (46) and Antoine Dupont (41) are two of just three players to have made 40+ carries in this year’s Men’s Six Nations (also Blair Kinghorn, 58), with Alldritt also having made more metres in contact than any other player (81), and ranking joint-second for defenders beaten among forwards (7)

– France’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey has notched up nine direct try involvements in the 2025 Championship (5 tries, 4 assists), already the joint-most by any player in a single edition of the Six Nations, and the outright most by any France player. Antoine Dupont needs just one more involvement to join Bielle-Biarrey on nine (2 tries, 6 assists)