Ireland, who beat world champions New Zealand in Vancouver last year, were 14-0 down after 18 minutes before forcing their way back into the game and Bemand believes they could have secured victory with more "calmness of thought" in key areas.

"We've had some experience, like at the end of the New Zealand game in WXV1 when we were able to come back and win it, but coming out here against these tier-one-nations and World Cup contenders, we thought it would come down to those last 20 minutes.

"You're going to need to have that composure, not belief really, just calmness of thought that you can execute where you want to be on the pitch, how you get there, and then you take those opportunities."

Ireland will travel to Italy next weekend in round two of the Six Nations but could yet meet France again this year.

At the World Cup in England, the winner of Ireland's pool will play the runner-up of France's in the quarter-finals and vice versa.

"With a World Cup on the horizon, this very well could be a quarter-final," added Bemand.

"We said to the group, we want to get to that World Cup and know the next time we meet France, we can beat them.

"It's obviously not gone our way today but I think we think we can beat them the next time we meet them."