The Irish outscored their opponents three tries to one but
gave away too many soft penalties that were pounced on by France scrumhalf
Morgan Parra, who kicked five from five attempts.
Toulouse winger Maxime Medard's crucial 55th-minute try,
which put France ahead for the first time, also came from an Irish mistake,
with Gordon D'Arcy missing a tackle in midfield on opposite center Aurelien
Rougerie.
Ireland scored first-half tries through winger Fergus
McFadden and scrumhalf Tomas O'Leary to take a 15-12 lead at the break, while
returning No. 8 Jamie Heaslip went over in the 68th to set up a nailbiting
finale.
France held on, though, and next face a trip in two weeks'
time to Twickenham, where England lie in wait. The 2003 world champions
thrashed Italy 59-13 on Saturday and is top on points difference.
Ireland opened its campaign with a narrow 13-11 win in Italy
and, although the performance was much improved a week on, its hopes of a
second Grand Slam in three years have been dashed.
The intensity with which Ireland started the game at
Lansdowne Road proved too much for the French, who struggled to hold off wave
after wave of attacks in the opening five minutes.
Ireland fullback Luke Fitzgerald had a try disallowed in the
third minute after the pass to him by D'Arcy was adjudged to be forward, but
Les Bleus remained pinned in their own 22 because of Clement Poitrenaud's lazy
knock-on moments later.
With possession regained, Ireland's forward created the
space for McFadden - making only his second test appearance - to barge past
prop Thomas Domingo from four yards for a try that Jonathan Sexton converted.
The French soon settled and although they made few inroads
into Irish territory, they forced a raft of silly errors from the hosts at the
breakdown.
Parra made them pay by booting four penalties - two from out
wide and two from central positions - in the space of 16 minutes to put France
12-10 ahead.
The final five minutes of the half belonged to Ireland and
from solid lineout ball and after a series of phases, O'Leary picked up and
muscled his way past French props Nicolas Mas and Domingo for a close-range try
that needed the approval of the video referee.
Parra's 50th-minute penalty, awarded for another
infringement at a ruck, drew the sides level at 15-15 and Medard's try five
minutes later put France ahead for the first time.
D'Arcy missed a routine tackle on Rougerie, allowing the
Clermont-Auvergne center to canter through unopposed and pass outside for
Medard to crash over from 20 meters.
Dimitri Yachvili, on for Parra, converted and slotted over a
penalty soon after to push France 10 points clear at 25-15.
The hosts were not yet out of the match and incessant
pressure, caused by more than 20 phases of possession, ended in Heaslip
squeezing home in the right corner.
Replacement Ronan O'Gara's conversion from the touchline
brought the crowd to their feet and set up a tense finish, but Ireland couldn't
complete the comeback.
