Ireland coach Declan Kidney said the destiny of the Six Nations Championship was in France's hands after seeing his team revive their hopes of a successful title defence with a 20-16 win away to England.
France ended Ireland's hopes of back to back grand slams with a crushing 33-10 win in Paris.
'Les Bleus' are now on course for a clean sweep themselves after their 26-20 victory away to Wales on Friday, combined with England's defeat, left the table-toppers as the only unbeaten side in this year's Six Nations.
France now have a 'home run' to a grand slam with Italy and England due in Paris on March 13 and March 20 respectively.
But many a Six Nations title has been won by a side that has lost just one match and Ireland can now look forward to home encounters against Wales and Scotland with renewed confidence after Saturday's success at Twickenham.
Nevertheless, a cautious Kidney said: "The ball is in France's court.
"It will be a huge Test against Wales, who've shown extraordinary resilience in coming back in three successive Test matches. They won't be in a mood to give us points."
Ireland had to play the final 10 minutes without their inspirational captain Brian O'Driscoll when the gifted centre was carried off on a stretcher after he was accidentally struck on the head by the knee of team-mate Paul O'Connell.
But Kidney insisted the star midfielder had not suffered serious damage.
"Brian took bit of a bang. It was nothing - he was out on the pitch at the end. He's good and is enjoying the win as much as anyone," said Kidney.
"Brian just felt he should make Paul do the press conference to make up for him giving him a bang on the head with his knee.
"There's no risk of concussion. He's fine."
Defeat against France ended Ireland's 12 match unbeaten run but at Twickenham on Saturday they scored three slick tries through wings Tommy Bowe (two) and Keith Earls.
Bowe's second, with just minutes left, was especially important as it took Ireland in front again after England had fought back from 13-6 down to go ahead 16-13 after prop Dan Cole's converted try was followed up by a Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal.
"That was an important response after France," said O'Connell, the British and Irish Lions captain during last year's Test series loss in South Africa.
"Brian said yesterday (Friday) that teams are defined by how they react to losses but we could have picked an easier one to get back on the horse than England at Twickenham, especially as they had their backs to the wall as well.
"I don't think we played outstandingly well but we showed a lot of intensity and a high work-rate.
"To come back and win the game with eight or nine minutes to go is a good feeling. The guys are very pleased with that," added O'Connell, who also hailed a defensive display that saw Ireland miss just one out of 100 tackles.
Ireland, on a day when prop John Hayes became the first player to appear in 100 Tests for the country, unlike England, took their chances.
And while No 8 Jamie Heaslip was a deserved man-of-the-match after fine work at the breakdown slowed home ball, it was the greater class of their backs that swung the match in Ireland's favour as they beat England for the sixth time in seven meetings.
"It's great when you have backs like we do. They are great finishers, confident guys who can do it either way," said O'Connell.
"We don't mind how we win but it's a great when you score three tries on a day like today."
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