Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe and Béibhinn Parsons were both on the scoresheet in Cape Town as the Ireland Women (sponsored by TritonLake) qualified for their fourth Cup semi-final in five World Series tournaments.
Despite a second half fight-back from France, Ireland stood firm to claim a hard-fought 12-10 quarter-final win and set up a last-four showdown with New Zealand, the silver medallists in Dubai last week.
Already guaranteed a quarter-final place, head coach Aiden McNulty fielded a much-changed team against Australia who ran out 29-0 winners of the Pool A decider, but Ireland bounced back in determined fashion against the French.
Murphy Crowe heads into the final day of the HSBC Cape Town Sevens as the tournament's top try scorer on six. She is now fourth on the World Series' all-time list (145 tries), having passed out Canadian legend Ghislaine Landry.
The girls in green take on New Zealand tomorrow morning at 11.24am local time/9.24am Irish time, with the USA and World Series leaders Australia on the other side of the draw.
Kathy Baker, Brittany Hogan, Wicklow teenager Vicky Elmes Kinlan and Megan Burns came into the starting line-up for the pool finale against the in-form Australians.
They kept the margin down to 10 points in the first half, but a Faith Nathan score early in the second half and a late brace from replacement Bienne Terita saw the recent Rugby World Cup winners top the pool in convincing fashion.
Into the knockout rounds, Ireland seized a second-minute lead against France. Eve Higgins' clever run out to the right, on halfway, pulled Lili Dezou across and opened up a gap for Murphy Crowe to surge through and go over untouched.
French errors allowed Ireland to remain on the front foot, with Stacey Flood's kick just having too much on it as she tried to set up a try in the right corner for Parsons.
A knock-on and a penalty kept France pinned back and Ireland took advantage in the sixth minute. Erin King's excellent offload out of a double tackle, coupled with a quick Flood pass, freed up Parsons to nip in beside the posts.
A terrific chase back by Higgins foiled a potential breakaway try for Camille Grassineau, and captain Lucy Mulhall, who had converted Ireland's second score, made an important interception in her own 22 to make sure it stayed 12-0 for half-time.
Ireland's defensive workload increased on the restart, Murphy Crowe, Mulhall and Kate Farrell McCabe all required to make try-saving interventions before France created the space for Grassineau to cross in the left corner.
Crucially, Yolaine Yengo's conversion bounced back off the crossbar to leave it 12-5. Mulhall clawed back territory a few phases later with a long kick downfield, pushing les Bleues back into their own 22.
A powerful hit from King typified Ireland's tenacious tackling, and they almost settled the issue through Murphy Crowe. She broke free from one tackle, but the fresh-legged Lucy Hapulat managed to haul her down outside the French 22.
Ireland did concede past the final hooter, following a run of penalties which invited France forward through quick taps. Alycia Chrystiaens got away from Katie Heffernan to crash over in the right corner, taking Parsons with her.
Although the Ballinasloe flyer saw yellow for a high tackle in attempting to stop her, there was no time left and the all-important conversion from Yengo dropped short as McNulty's charges took a step closer to a podium finish in the Mother City.
You can watch all the World Series action live on the World Rugby Sevens website, while there will be updates across Irish Rugby social channels and reports here on IrishRugby.ie.
Kathy Baker, Brittany Hogan, Wicklow teenager Vicky Elmes Kinlan and Megan Burns came into the starting line-up for the pool finale against the in-form Australians.
They kept the margin down to 10 points in the first half, but a Faith Nathan score early in the second half and a late brace from replacement Bienne Terita saw the recent Rugby World Cup winners top the pool in convincing fashion.
Into the knockout rounds, Ireland seized a second-minute lead against France. Eve Higgins' clever run out to the right, on halfway, pulled Lili Dezou across and opened up a gap for Murphy Crowe to surge through and go over untouched.
French errors allowed Ireland to remain on the front foot, with Stacey Flood's kick just having too much on it as she tried to set up a try in the right corner for Parsons.
A knock-on and a penalty kept France pinned back and Ireland took advantage in the sixth minute. Erin King's excellent offload out of a double tackle, coupled with a quick Flood pass, freed up Parsons to nip in beside the posts.
A terrific chase back by Higgins foiled a potential breakaway try for Camille Grassineau, and captain Lucy Mulhall, who had converted Ireland's second score, made an important interception in her own 22 to make sure it stayed 12-0 for half-time.
Ireland's defensive workload increased on the restart, Murphy Crowe, Mulhall and Kate Farrell McCabe all required to make try-saving interventions before France created the space for Grassineau to cross in the left corner.
Crucially, Yolaine Yengo's conversion bounced back off the crossbar to leave it 12-5. Mulhall clawed back territory a few phases later with a long kick downfield, pushing les Bleues back into their own 22.
A powerful hit from King typified Ireland's tenacious tackling, and they almost settled the issue through Murphy Crowe. She broke free from one tackle, but the fresh-legged Lucy Hapulat managed to haul her down outside the French 22.
Ireland did concede past the final hooter, following a run of penalties which invited France forward through quick taps. Alycia Chrystiaens got away from Katie Heffernan to crash over in the right corner, taking Parsons with her.
Although the Ballinasloe flyer saw yellow for a high tackle in attempting to stop her, there was no time left and the all-important conversion from Yengo dropped short as McNulty's charges took a step closer to a podium finish in the Mother City.
You can watch all the World Series action live on the World Rugby Sevens website, while there will be updates across Irish Rugby social channels and reports here on IrishRugby.ie.