Jonny Sexton emerged bloodied but victorious from a bruising encounter with France © Getty Images

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France came to Dublin promising to send their big guns down the throat of Ireland dangerman Johnny Sexton, but in the end it was the hosts who had enough to turn the tables and knock out their visitors.

Victory under the Aviva lights means eyes turn to what is now a Grand Slam eliminator with England next month and, while Joe Schmidt's men were far from their glittering best this evening, they will feel like they have every chance of furthering the defence of their Six Nations crown in the most emphatic way possible.

Against France, Ireland lived by the old saying that true champions can win even when the going is tough. This was a Test for those who like their rugby full-blooded and physical, and Ireland were more than happy to dig in for victory. A starting XV that boasted 27 Lions caps between seven players was never likely to take a step back - particularly given the return of back-row units Jamie Heaslip and Sean O'Brien - but France certainly left their mark on a few Irish bodies.

One of those was Sexton's. The Racing Metro stand-off's face adorns billboards and bus stops here in Dublin, but it will be a week or two before his next photo shoot. Returning to the game after a mandatory 12 weeks out thanks to suffering four concussions in 2014, the fly-half was once again in the wars, suffering at the hands of France's giant Mathieu Bastareaud in particular. But in the moments when he didn't have a French defender hanging from his neck, Sexton showed his class, pinging delicate crossfield kicks and always searching for a new angle. It was not a night for his attacking talents, but he displayed them all the same.

France, almost perversely, managed the match's only try, with Romain Taofifenua's touchdown on 70 minutes their first in almost three hours of this year's tournament - the last of the six nations to break their duck. It came with an Irish man off the field and should not mask a stagnant performance from the visitors. They relied too heavily on their battering-ram pack and failed to give a promising back-line any freedom to play.

It wasn't meant to be this way. Saint-André's comments in the build-up to this year's tournament promised a return of the joie de vivre that once characterised French rugby. Entertaining performances in the Autumn internationals even suggested they could do it, one ugly blip against Argentina aside. By this week, however, the France head coach had changed his tune. The focus had shifted to aiming his big beasts at Sexton, hoping to smash him out of the game. But tackles do not necessarily ensure tries.

If physicality was what they were aiming for, France certainly came up trumps. Sexton was at one point forced from the field after a nasty clash of heads with Basteraud - the man who knocked him out in last year's thriller at the Stade de France. But that brute force also took its toll on France themselves. When the energetic Teddy Thomas went off in the first half with what looked like a leg injury, the visitors lost what little dynamism they had in their backline.

While France set about trying to eviscerate Ireland's stars, the hosts held steady enough to weather the storm. The fans had to wait almost a quarter of an hour for their first points on the board, when Sexton shut out a chorus of boos to boot over from the left flank. The stadium announcer was unimpressed with the jeering, telling fans over the tannoy to kept schtum, but it really made no difference to the No.10, who was impressive from the kicking tee all evening.

However blunt their performance, victory over France in Dublin - restored to their favourite blue shirts after last week's enforced experiment with red against Scotland - is no mean feat. Before this match, the visitors had not lost a Test on this Landsdowne Road site since 2003, although they were beaten at the home of Gaelic Games, Croke Park, in 2009. The two nations next meet in the final round of pool D at the World Cup later this year. Ireland will insist that game is just like any other, but with two wins on the spin against their Gallic rivals, the psychological advantage is certainly with the men from the Emerald Isle.

Ireland are now unbeaten in nine Tests, with the last team to defeat them the very side they face next in this championship. What price a Grand Slam for Schmidt's men this year? The clash with England in Dublin next month is certainly looking mighty tasty.