Ireland defeat France in Paris

Paris, 2 January 1914 - Ireland defeated France in Parc des Princes yesterday in the first rugby international of the year. On a beautifully fine day in Paris, Ireland secured a narrow, but deserved, 8 - 6 victory.

The French team were disappointed to fail against Ireland for the sixth year since the teams started to play each other, but there are clear indications that French rugby is improving. A huge crowd of 30,000 spectators attended the game, including many women, and that too was a sign of the growth of rugby in France.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]