Fabien Galthie praises France's clinical attack after commanding Six Nations win over Ireland

Les Bleus ran in five tries on their way to victory in their Six Nations opener in Paris last night (Thursday, February 5), in a win that further cements their status as Six Nations title contenders.

Speaking after the Test, Galthie said: "In an attacking sense, the team played with great accuracy.

"It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather conditions.

"The variety between kicking and keeping the ball in hand was remarkable."

And, he has reason to be pleased with his side's output ball-in-hand, too, with them posting some utterly ludicrous attacking stats on their way to victory.

As a unit, France made a staggering 593 metres ball-in-hand from their combined 76 carries, an average of 7.8 metres per carry. To put that even more into context, Ireland managed just 385 metres from their 65 carries, or an average of 5.9 metres per carry.

Around that, Les Bleus also put their proper game-breaker players to good use, and that too is reflected in the numbers. Thomas Ramos led the way across the game with 95 metres from his 13 carries, Louis Bielle-Biarrey was close behind on 94 metres from just four carries and Nicolas Depoortere posted 49 metres from his nine truck-ups.

The pack were also heavily involved in the all-court attack, with Mickael Guillard leading the way for carries across the game with 16, while Oscar Jegou contributed nine, Julien Marchand eight and Anthony Jelonch seven.