"We forgot it was Ireland" - France's Fabien Galthie and Antoine Dupont 'surprised' by one-sided Six Nations win

"It's the Irish team we're playing, they are the number three team in the world rankings" Galthie said. "For 50 minutes we forgot that it was Ireland we were playing. We said that it would never be perfect, it was never perfect and we have to be humble. We made some mistakes, but they were few mistakes."

"For 50 minutes, we gave them no hope whatsoever." Galthie added. "We did not open a door to the opponents. I think they [France players] realise that they can play a high quality game when they are sticking to the plan that has been developed."

"We were playing against a very decent team, they were a team that take any opportunity, they were difficulty to stop their momentum. We were able to reverse the situation again and take control of the game. It was Ireland we were playing, let us not forget it."

Galthie's assessment of the Ireland team is harsh but fair. Andy Farrell's side did not show up for the best part of an hour at the Stade de France, as Les Bleus ran in blistering demonstration of attacking intent, with tries from Bordeaux-Begles duo Louis Bielle-Biarrey (two) and Matthieu Jalibert, and RC Toulon back row Charles Ollivon.

"The first half of the match was really perfect." Galthie added. "We conquered the ball in difficult conditions, it was difficult to begin with but we conquered the positions. It was different aspects of the game that went well, pressure, in the air and on the ground. We were playing Ireland, let's not forget it, but were able to play to our strengths.

"With the ball, the team worked very well. It was one of the best performances with the ball in attack despite the weather conditions. The halfbacks [Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert] and Thomas Ramos played very well, he [Ramos] was very involved."

The reigning title holders of 'Rugby's Greatest Championship', France boast a stacked squad of talents and are buoyed buy the return of magical halfback Dupont. Les Bleus are understandably amongst the front-runners for this year's crown alongside co-favourites England. Steve Borthwick's side also got off to a strong start, as they hammered Wales 48-7 at Allianz Stadium to close out Saturday's action.

The common conversation around rugby fans and pundits alike, is that the script has already been written for the 2026 Six Nations, with a Grand Slam decider lined up for France vs England in the final round. Both sides have taken the first steps towards this showdown, yet Frrance captain Antoine Dupont won't get overzealous, as there are still four matches between Les Bleus and the Grand Slam.

"We are ambitious anyway." Dupont said. "We know how the tournament works and we take the games one at a time. We are going to Cardiff [ to play Wales this weekend], it is always difficult going to the Principality Stadium, we have had some difficult matches. We are taking the matches one at a time, and we have to win the matches one after the other, then we are going to dream big."

Reflecting on the match against Ireland, Dupont reflected upon how he was at times 'surprised' to see the score-board so one-sided against the men in green. "When we were at 29-0 it was pretty surprising for us. It is always tough when we play against Ireland, they kick a lot but we started the game very well, we kept dynamic for almost 80 minutes."

Dupont then assessed his running of the side, in what was the first international Test for the multi-time World Player of the Year since the very same fixture from last year's Six Nations. Dupont spoke in the proceeding media about how there was no bad blood between he and Ireland, after he missed eight months of action with a brutal cruciate ligament knee injury.

"I felt [like it went] really well. I felt like I had a good pace in the game, with Matthieu [Jalibert], I feel like we had a good pace on the game, we did our best." The Stade Toulousain superstar said. "We had a quiet confidence tonight, and we were able to play together well despite the bad weather conditions. the forwards gave us a good platform to play, and we were good with the ball."