Ireland head coach Andy Farrell slammed his team's slow start against France in their Six Nations opener on Thursday.

Ireland lost 36-14 at the Stade de France against the reigning champions and found themselves 22-0 down at half-time.

Indeed, their half-time deficit of 22 points was also their biggest after 40 minutes in a men's Six Nations game since 2006, again coming against France (3-29).

And their overall 22-point loss is their largest men's Six Nations defeat since February 2010, which was also against France (10-33).

It took Ireland 59 minutes to score their first points of the match, and Farrell believes they must get out of the blocks quicker for the remainder of their campaign. 

He told ITV Sport: "I think you make your own luck in this game. Without the ball, I thought we lost that battle in the first half.

"The things like the high ball and winning the scraps on the floor, running through tackles or missing tackles etc – that's the main part of the game.

"We certainly came off second best in that regard in the first half. Our response was gallant, but that's not what we want to be, we don't want to be a responding team. We needed to show it from the get-go.

"We'll be honest, we are an honest group, and we'll make sure we use this in the right manner. It's a must."

Defeat in our Championship opener. pic.twitter.com/YSSvAnTEv1

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 5, 2026

France, meanwhile, kicked off their title defence in style, securing their four-try bonus point in front of their home fans.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey's opening try against Ireland was his 10th in the men's Six Nations in just his 10th appearance, the joint quickest player to reach 10 tries in the Championship alongside Will Greenwood.

France defence coach Shaun Edwards told ITV: "We're very happy. I thought our attack was fantastic and we dominated possession and territory.

"That's unusual against Ireland, they normally do that to their opponent.

"It [the French attack] was a joy to watch at times. You want to see it in training, it's incredible.

"I thought Ireland they showed they are a really good team to come back to, but it was nice to get the win and the try right at the end because the fans deserved that.

"We play Wales away next, and we know they are very organised. I know their coaches, and we have to make sure we can handle that."