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PARIS -- Joe Schmidt fears Ireland's Dave Kearney could be out "for some time" after he was injured during his side's 10-9 defeat by France, which all but ended Irish hopes of a third successive RBS 6 Nations title.

Kearney and teammates Sean O'Brien, Jonathan Sexton and Mike McCarthy all came off injured during Saturday's clash at a rain-soaked Stade de France, with Schmidt unsure what state his squad will be in to face Eddie Jones' England at Twickenham in two weeks' time.

O'Brien came off with a suspected hamstring injury in the first half, while Kearney was caught with a high tackle from France captain Guilhem Guirado before the second-half departures of McCarthy [head] and Sexton.

"We lost Dave Kearney in and I think he's got an AC [shoulder] injury, which will probably keep him out for some time," Schmidt said during his post-match press conference in Paris.

"With Sean, it looks like a hamstring injury. We feared it was a knee injury, the way he planted and turned. But it looks like an upper hamstring. It's always a loss when you lose him because of his high work-rate and power. We're just going to have to assess him over the next 24 or 48 hours.

"Johnny [Sexton], he was pretty knocked around at the end of the game. Mike McCarthy certainly appeared to suffer a concussion but I've not had chance to speak to the medical team yet.

"Jared Payne played on with a dead leg for about 30 minutes. I thought he was outstanding given that context. I'm hoping everybody else will be OK for two weeks' time."

Schmidt refused to comment directly on the performance of South African referee Jaco Peyper, but was unhappy at the decision to disallow an Ireland try for a knock-on from Kearney.

"I'd encourage the referee organiser to look at that match. We got close. There's the try scored by Dave Kearney that the referee blew up early and couldn't go to the TMO.

"We're hugely disappointed. We were leading 9-3 for so long. They were difficult conditions -- a slippery ball and a greasy surface - but at the same time you've got to go out and play those conditions."

France head coach Guy Noves was happy with his players' refusal to give in as a late Maxime Medard try and five points from the boot of Jules Plisson helped them record a first Six Nations win over the Irish since 2011. Noves, who took over from Philippe Saint-Andre after France's disappointing World Cup last year, hinted there was more to come.

"I was worried about content of the match rather than victory. The players understood it at half time. But like last week [winning against Italy], it feels good.

"We've had a good week, we've debriefed over mistakes -- they've made it better this week. Both the backs and the forwards did a good job. We made changes and they worked. That shows huge solidarity between the players. They were fragile in defence against Italy - they were better this week. We're not there yet but we're on the right track.

"I said to them almost jokingly at half-time 'you have to work on defence'. They had too much pressure on their shoulders. You can win and you can lose but nobody will die. They showed second half they had a ferocious will to impose their own game on Ireland."