A dominating second-half performance from France proved enough as they edged out Ireland 26-24 in their World Rugby U20 Championship opener in Perpignan on Wednesday.
Ireland international Keith Earls has been sidelined for up to six weeks following a knee injury that he sustained in the Grand Slam winning final round Six Nations Championship encounter against England.
Ireland went on to clinch their third Grand Slam in the recently concluded Six Nations 2018 tournament after beating England 15-24 in the final round. Here are few of the key points from the tournament.
Joe Schmidt has hailed his Mr Reliable Rob Kearney and predicts a strong future for the full-back as Ireland swept to the Grand Slam in the recently concluded Six Nations tournament.
Ireland marked St. Patrick's Day celebration with a convincing 15-24 win over England in the final round of the Six Nations Championship at Twickenham Stadium as they went on to clinch the Grand Slam for the third time.
World Rugby has replaced assistant referee Marius van der Westhuizen in the final round of the Six Nations Championship clash between England and Ireland at Twickenham after his visit to the red rose team's training camp last week.
Exeter Chiefs back-row Sam Simmonds insisted that England will be motivated to spoil Ireland's Grand Slam hopes as the two teams meet at Twickenham Stadium for the final round of the Six Nations Championship.
Ireland international Conor Murray said the team is enjoying the talk of a possible Grand Slam as they head to Twickenham to face England for the final round of the Six Nations Championship.
Ireland's hope of clinching the Grand Slam has taken a major boost with prop Cian Healy declared fit for the final round of the Six Nations Championship encounter against England at Twickenham.
The Six Nations trophy is firmly secure in the Irish hands after they dispatched Scotland to secure 28-8 bonus-point at Lansdowne Road on Saturday and followed by England's 22-16 defeat against France at Stade de France.