Fitzpatrick pleased at how Ireland women stood up to defending Six Nations champions France

PAULA Fitzpatrick was pleased with how the Ireland matched the physical intensity of the French challenge to maintain their unbeaten run in this year’s Women’s Six Nations.

The Tallaght competitor skippered the team to a thrilling 13-10 point victory over Les Bleus in Donnybrook on Sunday that saw them make it three from three in their 2017 campaign.

After having barely managed to see off a dogged Scottish outfit in their opening game before having to rely on a very late try from Clondalkiin’s Hannah Tyrrell for a winning bonus point against Italy, Tom Tierney’s side were looking for a much improved performance against the defending champions.

“The message was that we need controlled mayhem from all the players” Fitzpatrick told The Echo.

“We had a point to prove. You could see that in the media. We needed to show up and show what we can do so that everyone could see our professionalism.

“The first two games we had played within ourselves and we just weren’t happy with our performances.

“What we really needed was a big battle, a big fight. This was the first game [of the campaign] that we started well.

“We knew we had to beat them up front. They’re hooker Gaelle Mignot and Number 8 Safi N’Diaye are pivotal players for them especially if they get go-forward ball.

“But their line-out didn’t go too well and we were getting the upper hand in the scrum.

“We went in three points up at the break and I was delight-ed how we finished that half.

“I got myself sinbinned and they [the French] were camped in our half. They opted to go for the scum instead of taking the points and that proved a wrong decision.

“They wanted to go in ahead at the break and not just level, and that really cost them.

“The girls managed to hold out but unfortunately in the second half we were still down to 14 and they capitalised out wide with a lovely try.

“But thankfully we didn’t give up anything more than that.

“We managed to get back in front but you can never let up against the French. They have players who can spark anything.

“They did get their backs into it and they use their Number 8 to crash up and offload and it was key that we shut that down” she added.