France make ominous Six Nations statement in 36-14 dismantling of Ireland – if they can master a complete 80-minute display then nobody will be able to stop them, writes NIK SIMON

‘France Angleterre… c’est le finale!’ blurted a middle-aged man in a beret on the rush-hour RER train to Saint-Denis.

The local arrived with great expectations, crammed into carriages with commuters for this unusual Thursday night kick-off, and they left with everything they dreamed of.

A giant glitterball from the roof of the Stade de France and, on this evidence, Fabien Galthie’s look good for a Grand Slam dance-off in the final round.

Whether England or any of their rivals can compete is another matter.

Woe for Ireland. The sorry men in green looked like a team who felt the force of iron fists wrapped in velvet gloves from the Champs Elysees.

This was Antoine Dupont’s first game for France since his last March and he marshalled a spellbinding attack.

Tadhg Beirne’s clear-out ruptured his knee ligaments in Dublin last year and the Parisian crowd have not forgotten. Whistles welcomed the Ireland’s lock onto the pitch and French TV replayed the incident over and over again in their pre-match coverage.

This felt like a night of revenge.

Dupont’s combination with Matthieu Jalibert has been one of the most hotly-debated topics in rugby. Two gun-slinging half-backs who like to run the ball, leaving doubts about whether they can operate in tandem within the structured demands of Test rugby.

Yet France kicked the ball for almost 700 metres in the first half- winning the aerial battle against Ireland, who barely landed a punch.

Last month, Damian Penaud joined a contingent of Northampton players in a wine bar in Bordeaux after their Champions Cup meeting. He told Tommy Freeman how much he was looking forward to the Six Nations but Fabien Galthie had other ideas.

France’s iconic winger was mercilessly dropped from the squad. Galthie turned his back on the laissez-faire wideman, instead opting for the younger enthusiasm of Theo Attissogbe.

Attissogbe chased and hustled. He tapped back contestable kicks and pounced on handling errors in the Irish midfield. Work rate is the name of the game in a Test arena which is increasingly scrutinised by data analysts.

France did not concede a penalty in the first half and they attacked with waves of offloading momentum. They pounced on Sam Prendergast’s loose plays in Ireland’s No 10 jersey.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey was first to capitalise. When Prendergast’s fly-hacked kick stayed in play, France’s winger saw an inch of play. This fixture was moved to Thursday night to accommodate the Winter Olympic opening ceremony and Bielle-Biarrey weaved between three tackles like a slalom skier to score the first try of the championships.

Steve Borthwick, rest assured, will have been watching on TV at England’s hotel in Richmond. The England head coach, you suspect, is not a fan of The Apprentice anyway.

He will not have been taken by surprise by the extent of the kicking contest and England are well-prepped for any aerial siege.

There were few clean contests and unstructured play developed. Charles Ollivon and Mickael Guillard, the French locks, have both played in the back-row and they added dynamism to a pack that has typically been known for its heavyweight traits. This is the era of the hybrid player.

Ireland looked like a shadow of their former selves. Their confidence is tumbling and their team lacked gravitas, losing the physical battle in almost every area.

Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong were both missing and the fact that eight out of nine of Ireland’s top looseheads play for Leinster raises questions about their planning.

The Irish suffered a scrum massacre by the Springbok in the autumn, when both their props were sinbinned.

Perception counts and 50-50 calls went against them. France scored their second try off the back of a scrum. Dupont passed to Jalibert off the back of the scrum and the No 10 scored the easiest of tries from first receiver, with Prendergast offering little resistance on his own try line.

Analysis of the autumn series showed how the best attacking teams scored early in the phase count. Teams cash in on their momentum and Jalibert’s Bordeaux team have carried the trend into club rugby with their swashbuckling Champions Cup performances.

Some of their attacking play was cinematic. The sort of breaks you would cast in a rugby movie. Jalbert chipped the ball over the defence and pulled the ball back for Ollivon to score.

There were tap penalties and quick lineouts. With the speed France have on the wings and in the centres, they will back themselves against anyone.

Their attack flowed into the second half, too. No one in world rugby can match Bielle-Biarrey’s pace and the winger gathered Tomas Ramos’ improvised kick to give France a sumptuous 29-0 lead.

As the game moved into the final quarter, Nick Timoney and Michael Milne scored from Ireland’s bench. Andy Farrell is left facing some troubling questions. You suspect he needs to bring back the likes of Jack Conan and Tadhg Furlong into his team for their big game experience, because this was a team that lacked their front-line quality.

Galthie is moving his team into a new era, building towards the World Cup, but he has not quite mastered the art of Le Pom Squad. If the French can master the science of the 80-minute performance then nobody in Europe will be able to stop them in this form.