A game of two halves resulted in a rare Six Nations draw in this afternoon's rescheduled affair between France and Ireland at the Stade de France.
The Irish had earned an 11-point lead at the break but failed to score in the second period and France clawed back a draw in the fixture, which was postponed because of freezing conditions three weeks ago.
Jonathan Sexton dragged an early penalty wide for the visitors but they were soon ahead when Tommy Bowe telegraphed Aurelien Rougerie's pass and ran on to for a simple score which Sexton converted.
Morgan Parra got France on the board before Sexton reestablished the seven-point lead and Parra misfired with another penalty.
Bowe went over for the second time four minutes before the interval by collecting the ball following a turnover and chipping over the France defence. The ball bounced in favour of the Ireland winger and Sexton went on to convert to give the visitors an 11-point half-time lead.
This was soon reduced to eight as Parra sent another penalty over in the 49th minute before the home side went over for the first time through Wesley Fofana.
The centre picked up a loose ball and broke through down the left wing to go over in the corner with Parra missing the resulting conversion.
The fly-half soon made up for this kicking error by finding the gap between the posts with a penalty from near the halfway line which levelled the scores at 17-17.
As the encounter drew to a close France became the aggressor and tried to snatch the game through Lionel Beauxis but his two drop goal attempts were poor.
Wales are now the only side in this year's competition to still have a 100% record.
