France coach Bernard Laporte said he believed his hopes of victory over Ireland had been dashed when Brian O'Driscoll scored in the 72nd minute.
The Irish had been behind for much of the game before their captain scored a stunning solo try.
And Laporte told BBC Sport: "We concentrated on silencing him a lot as he is always very dangerous.
"After the try he scored, it was very difficult for us to go on and actually win the match."
Despite O'Driscoll's try, Christophe Dominici ended the contest with his second score moments later.
Laporte, though, singled out Benoit Baby for praise after his man of the match award-winning display in his first game in a France shirt.
"Benoit Baby had a fantastic debut," said Laporte. "He was excellent for us.
"The game itself was a good game. We knew how good a side they were before the game. They are one of the best teams in the world - their previous results showed that.
"But we are just very happy to win this as we are a very young team."