Women's World Cup Third-Place match: France 25-18 Ireland
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
| France 25 (12) |
| Tries: Mignot, Tremouliere, Guiglion 2 Con: Agricole Pens: Tremouliere |
| Ireland 18 (15) |
| Tries: Briggs, Davitt Cons: Davitt Pens: Briggs 2 |
Ireland finished fourth at the Women's World Cup after being beaten 25-18 by hosts France in the third-place match.
Niamh Briggs converted her own early try to put the Irish 7-0 ahead but a Gaelle Mignot try helped France level.
Jessy Tremouliere's try edged France 12-10 ahead but Grace Davitt's score put Ireland 15-12 up at the interval.
After Elodie Guiglion scored a third French try, Briggs restored Ireland's lead but a Tremouliere penalty and late Guiglion try sealed the home victory.
The defeat at the Stade Jean Bouin in Paris was a cruel end to the tournament for the Irish who had looked potential winners after shocking defending champions New Zealand in the Pool stages.
However, Philip Doyle's side were then hammered 40-7 by England in Wednesday's semi-final, which left the Irish with the tough task of regrouping for the Third-Place match.
| Ireland's Women's World Cup results |
|---|
| 2 August -Pool B: USA 17-23 Ireland |
| 5 August - Pool B: Ireland 17-14 New Zealand |
| 9 August - Pool B: Ireland 40-5 Kazakhstan |
| 13 August -Semi-Final: Ireland 7-40 England |
| 17 August - Third-Place match: France 25-18 Ireland |
Doyle announced before the tournament that he would be stepping down from the position.
The coach led Ireland to a first Six Nations and Grand Slam triumph in 2013.
Ireland came out fired up and the early pressure yielded a try for Briggs in the sixth minute which the full-back converted.
However, France, helped by scrum and line-out superiority, quickly regrouped and captain Mignot touched down at the other end within six minutes with Sandrine Agricole slotting the levelling conversion.
Briggs restored Ireland's lead with a 25th-minute penalty and while a Tremouliere try put France ahead again, the visitors led at the break after centre Davitt gathered her own chip over the defence to score.
France were back in front on 47 minutes as Guiglion powered over but Ireland regained the lead just after the hour mark as Briggs squeezed over a penalty from 35 metres.
Tremouliere, who had assumed the kicking duties, restored France's advantage on 65 minutes before Briggs missed a difficult kicking opportunity for the Irish seven minutes later.
Ireland did get into the French half in the closing five minutes but right at the death, France produced a breakaway which saw Guiglion scoring her second try.