Andy Farrell tears into Ireland players and questions their 'fight' after Six Nations defeat to France

Farrell, speaking afterwards, expressed disbelief at what he witnessed during the first half at Stade de France, telling ITV: "Something that I never thought we'd be saying about this Irish team, a little bit of lack of intent in that first-half.

"Missed tackles, winning the scraps on the floor or the fight in the air, it's just intention."

"If that's lacking you're not going to win any international game, never mind one in Paris."

Speaking to Virgin Media, he reiterated his disappointment, stating the team failed to demonstrate the battling qualities he demands.

Farrell's players offered no defence of their performance, with several acknowledging France had physically overwhelmed them from the outset.

Lock Tadhg Beirne conceded to RTÉ that the hosts had dominated in virtually every area: "Physically, they probably dominated us, they won the aerial battle and then any bouncing ball, you know how dangerous France are and we found ourselves underneath our post a couple of times."

Captain Caelan Doris identified defensive frailties as the fundamental problem.

Official Six Nations statistics revealed Ireland completed just 67 per cent of their tackles whilst conceding 19 line breaks.

"It all starts with defence, you need a strong defence if you're going to win championships and we didn't have that today," Doris said, pointing to poor collisions and kick-chase execution as key failings.

Les Bleus had established a commanding 29-0 advantage before Ireland mounted a response in the second period.

Replacements Nick Timoney and Michael Milne crossed for tries as the visitors briefly threatened a remarkable comeback, reducing the deficit to 29-14.

Doris praised the impact of those coming off the bench, describing it as "class" and noting Ireland "felt dominant for that period."

However, the recovery proved insufficient. France's Théo Attissogbe added a fifth try to seal the victory, leaving Ireland with a damaging 5-0 points differential.

Despite fielding eight British and Irish Lions in their starting lineup with four more among the substitutes, Ireland were unable to overcome the first-half deficit they had created for themselves.

Centre Stuart McCloskey, who emerged as one of Ireland's stronger performers on the night, offered a blunt summary of proceedings.

"45 minutes off your game and you're 29 points down, chasing the game," he said. "They just took every chance they had in the first half and they played some amazing rugby."

McCloskey acknowledged France's superiority in the physical exchanges, admitting: "Just battered us really."

Attention must now turn swiftly to their next assignment against Italy on Saturday week.

"You've got to get turned around pretty quickly. So we just take a couple days off now, back in Sunday," McCloskey continued.

"We'll review that pretty hard I'm sure and you have to move on quickly."