Ireland vs. France: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Six Nations Round 2

Ireland maintained a 100 percent winning record at this year's Six Nations with an 18-11 victory against France on Saturday, keeping alive their hopes of winning back-to-back titles.

French lock Romain Taofifenua scored the only try of the game 10 minutes from full time, but Ireland managed to kick their way to a narrow win and seal a second victory of the competition, per BBC ScrumV:

Coming back into the Irish XV after 12 weeks out with a concussion injury, Sexton gave a reliable account of his talents and managed to lead the Dublin hosts well, although there were growing pains throughout.

A tightly run first half wasn't replete with clear try-scoring chances for either side, and Philippe Saint-Andre will have been extremely disappointed with some profligacy shown by his visitors in attack.

Attempting to fling the ball out wide to the likes of Yoann Huget and Teddy Thomas proved tiresome at times and poor decision-making led to dropped passes and missed chances en masse.

Ruaidhri O'Connor of the Irish Independent was one of those left dissatisfied with the quality shown during the first period as Ireland went in at the break with a 12-6 lead.

Sexton was responsible for all of Ireland's points at this stage, kicking four penalty attempts as the breakdown became an area of big interest, Ireland largely disappointing in that regard.

Paul Williams of Rugby World emphasised the importance of the breakdown, but did hail the hosts' ability to put away their opportunities from the tee:

Sexton's return to the Irish line-up did suffer a brief setback, however, after a clash of heads with French centre Mathieu Bastareaud meant he had to be taken off as a blood substitute.

Ian Madigan came on as his temporary replacement and increased the hosts' lead to 15-6 with a close-range penalty, and it was at this juncture the Aviva Stadium really began to rumble.

Peter Morrison/Associated Press

The mammoth figure of Uini Atonio came on in the hopes of making some second-half impact for Les Bleus, but the Dublin crowd only seemed to roar with more vigour the more France tested their defence.

Sexton returned to the fray with just under 30 minutes to go, but it wasn't long before another big collision saw Jamie Heaslip withdrawn from the action. He received an illegal knee in the back from French lock Pascal Pape, who was sent to the sin bin, although Rick O'Shea of BBC ScrumV argued the punishment was too lenient:

"

Some outstanding Gallic shrugging from Pape...pretty cheap shot to be honest, should have been red sending your knee into a blokes kidney

— Rick O'Shea (@RickOSheaRugby) February 14, 2015"

Writer Gavin Mortimer agreed that Pape perhaps should have seen red, outlining the immaturity of his actions given the importance of this fixture:

"

How can a 34-year-old with over 50 caps be that stupid? Pascal Pape, a sorry excuse for a Test forward

— gavin mortimer (@gavinmortimer7) February 14, 2015"

Rory Best saw yellow himself not long after, and Ireland almost managed to withstand France's assault with 14 men before substitute Taofifenua crossed over with just seconds left on the sin-bin clock.

An extreme overlap on the left flank was exploited by the second-row behemoth, and as Best boosted Ireland back to full strength, it made for an incredibly tense last 10 minutes.

Michael Steele/Getty Images

Camille Lopez couldn't convert, and Ireland kept the margin at seven points as Sexton looked to win the battle of the kickers, an aspect of the match which would prove pivotal in Ireland's win.

As the game ticked into its final minutes, the benches of both teams began to play a huge hand in who accounted for the biggest share of momentum, Williams hailing the impact of replacement scrum-half Morgan Parra:

Laura-Jane Jones argued the French might even have clinched a different result had the Clermont man started:

Joe Schmidt's men were left bruised and battered by the French onslaught that knocked on their door in the closing exchanges, but it was strong enough to hold and secure a hard-fought victory at the Aviva Stadium.

Leaning heavily on Sexton's individual talents, Ireland are still to reach their optimum speed and will now look to use a week's break in preparation for what could be a title-deciding tie against England in Round 3.