In a dire match dictated by the horrendous weather in Paris, France kept alive their hopes of a Grand Slam with a hard-fought 10-9 victory over Ireland.
Maxime Médard's try in the 70th minute ended up being the match-winner, as Ireland's hopes of retaining the Six Nations for a third striaght year look to be over.
The win leaves France with four points from two matches, whilst Ireland are still without a victory following their draw against Wales on the opening weekend.
Irish edge first half void of action
The first half was particularly poor from both sides, with very few memorable moments of play. The opening points came after an indiscretion from Yoann Maestri, who took Jonny Sexton out late right in front of referee Jaco Peyper, with Sexton knocking over the subsequent penalty.
France then got on the board, through Jules Plisson after they awarded a penalty following their first foray into Irish territory. Scrum dominance from Ireland gave them the platform to build their lead, with Sexton nailing a pair of penalties following French infringements at the set-piece for a 9-3 lead.
Ireland lost both Sean O'Brien (knee) and Dave Kearney (shoulder) during the opening half, as they began to lose some of the momentum they had started to build.
France missed an easy opportunity to decrease the deficit to three at the break, when Plisson missed a penalty kick which had been earned after an excellent carry from winger Virimi Vakatawa.
French steal two points following Médard's late score
The game continued to be a generally drab affair after the break, and it looked like Ireland would hold on for their fourth straight victory against the French.
That all changed when Maxime Machenaud entered the fray though, with the replacement scrum-half adding some fizz to the French backline. Machenaud and fellow substitute Loann Goujon made a big difference to the rhythm of the match, and helped the French set up camp in the Irish 22.
Following a number of phases close to the line, France felt they had scored a try, but referee Peyper and the TMO could not see a clear grounding between them and awarded a five-meter scrum to the hosts.
A number of dominant French scrums followed, with the Irish front row warned that one more collapse on their side would most likely result in a penalty try. The resulting scrum saw the ball squirt out the back, with Machenaud quickly fizzing a pass to Médard, who broke the tackle of Tommy O'Donnell and went over under the posts. Plisson added the extras and the French had a 10-9 lead with ten minutes left on the clock.
Guy Noves side controlled the ball for the vast majority of the final moments, keeping the Irish from making any inroads, and holding on for their second staight home victory in the tournament. They now top the table on four points ahead of their clash with Wales in Cardiff a week on Friday.
For Ireland, one point from two games was far from what they expected, and the injury list doesn't look like shortening any time soon. O'Brien's knee injury looked potentially long term, and Sexton was forced to leave the field late on with what looked like a potential concussion, which won't be his first. Their next fixture sees them travel to Twickenham to face England in 14 days time.