IRELAND captain Paul O'Connell hailed a "massive" RBS 6 Nations win over France at the Aviva Stadium, but felt the hosts had been guilty of making mistakes.

The Irish survived a second-half surge from their opponents - which included the only try of the match, scored by Romain Taofifenua with around 10 minutes remaining - to seal an 18-11 victory, 15 points of which were secured by the kicking of the returning Johnny Sexton.

O'Connell said: "It is disappointing really, the way we finished the game. We weren't really all the things we want to be - we want to be disciplined, we want to be accurate, and we weren't as good at those things as we'd like to be. We turned over the ball unnecessarily.

"But they are a good side, and a big side, with a lot of very skilful players. So for us to get a win is massive.

"The defensive effort in the second half was great. You'd rather defend with the ball, and rather have the ball for longer, putting them under pressure and defending that way, but we turned over the ball a lot and you can't do that with them. They are a good side and they scored a good try in the end - I guess the pressure told eventually against us."

Ireland join England - 47-17 victors at home against Italy - on two wins from two matches ahead of their meeting at the Aviva Stadium on March 1. and O'Connell added: "I think today is great - every time we beat them it is massive. But I think that game against England is going to be another level. I think it is going to be a challenge like not many of us have faced before."

Ireland's intent was clear from the start. They were prepared to run with the ball more than in recent outings, while looking to neutralise the French with intense defending that is becoming a trademark under coach Joe Schmidt.

Mathieu Bastareaud, the player Schmidt reckoned would require three of his men to take down, was turned over twice in the first 10 minutes, while Robbie Henshaw got into opposite number Wesley Fofana's face straight from the offfirst whistle. Sexton, back after an enforced 12-week layoff after suffering four concussions in a year, kicked Ireland into a 6-3 lead with two penalties either side of a strike by Camille Lopez. The home team then added two more Sexton penalties, again either side of one from Lopez.

After his series of concussions began in a clash with Bastareaud in Paris last year, Sexton thundered into Bastareaud the big centre again early in the second half and both went off with bloodied heads. In Sexton's absence, Temporary replacement Ian Madigan nudged Ireland nine points in front, before visiting coach Philippe Saint-Andre brought on a new front row after 50 minutes.

However, Pascal Pape was then sent to the sin-bin for kneeing Jamie Heaslip in the back, forcing the No 8 to hobble off on his return from injury.

The hosts went for the kill but a rare misjudgement and poor pass from the returning Sexton let France off the hook.Ireland hooker Rory Best joined Pape in the sin-bin for a trip on Thierry Dusautoir, before Lopez missed the resulting penalty.

The returning Sexton made it five penalties from five with 12 minutes to go before France finally went over for a try by Romain Taofifenua after pulling Ireland's defence apart and another miss from Lopez kept the gap at seven points.

Ireland: R Kearney, Bowe, Payne, Henshaw, Zebo, Sexton, Murray, McGrath, Best, Ross, Toner, O'Connell, O'Mahony, O'Brien, Heaslip. Replacements: Madigan for Sexton (44), Moore for McGrath (62), Healy for Ross (62), Henderson for Toner (74), S. Cronin for O'Brien (65), Murphy for Heaslip (59). Sin-bin: Best (61).

France: Spedding, Huget, Bastareaud, Fofana, Thomas, Lopez, Kockott, Slimani, Guirado, Ben Arous, Maestri, Pape, Chouly, Dusautoir, Le Roux. Replacements: Tales for Bastareaud (44), Lamerat for Thomas (32), Parra for Kockott (65), Debaty for Slimani (49), Kayser for Guirado (49), Atonio for Ben Arous (49), Taofifenua for Pape (63), Goujon for Chouly (71). Sin-bin: Pape (53).

Att: 50,000. Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU).