The view from France: 'We could have lost that last year. We emptied ourselves'

France, seeking their first win in Dublin since 2011, passed Winning Ugly 101

France's Teddy Thomas and Gael Fickou celebrate at the final whistle. Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Gael Fickou warned in the run-up to yesterday's Six Nations examination against Ireland that France needed to learn to win tight games ugly.

"We are working on it, even if we cannot fight our culture of moving the ball and creating uncertainty in defences," he told reporters before the squad left for Dublin. "But under certain conditions, you have to know how to play a more restricted game … you have to know how to win without playing a good game."