Back in 1909 Ireland played France for the very first time in Landsdown. The monumental match took place on the 20th of martch. This was a very important match for the history of Irish Rugby. His exlency Lord Lieutenant was in attendance.  The match attracted of fans from both sides. Half an hour before the start there must have been close to eight thousand present. Ireland was expected to take a heavy defeat on the day of the match. The artice from the Saturday Herald reporting the match from that day wrote "Out here at Landsdown road the French supporters can be counted by thousands".

The match kicked off at 3.30pm. Lord Lieutenant marked the start of the match with "God save the king"

By half time Ireland was up by two trys to nil. The report in the Saturday Herald from that day noted that it was a unique game.

In the second half France makes good plays resulting in a try and a penalty for their side. But it was no match for Ireland, scoring another try. As the game came to a close the score board reflected Irelands hard work. The final score for the match was 19-8 to Ireland. This was Irelands biggest victory in international rugby at that time, their highest points tally and a record three trys!

You can read the full article and counless more like this one on the archives.

The Irish Rugby Union Team 1909 (above)