French loosehead prop Annaelle Deshaye concedes a penalty in the scrum and Nicole Fowley makes no mistake from the kicking tee to get her side on the board.

Ireland enjoying their first spell of possession now as they work their way up the pitch.

Centre Aoife Dalton with a nice kick to pin France back.

The French lineout misfires once again and Ireland now have an attacking scrum in a central position.

Jade Konkel
Scotland & Harlequins forward

The French are looking to play quickly and it's causing some disruption into the Irish line but they are managing and coping really well being able to get off the line, chop the tackles and stop them.

When the French are playing with this speed it is really hard to get in a dominant tackle, so Ireland are doing what they can.

Image source, Inpho

France have another lineout close to the Irish line but it doesn't go to plan and Ireland have a chance to clear their lines...

A bit of miscommunication from Ireland in midfield results in a knock-on and France now have an attacking scrum in a central position.

Jade Konkel
Scotland & Harlequins forward

That's come from a discipline error from Ireland. We know France's line-out is exceptional. Last year it was the most successful line-out in the whole championship and that's where Ireland struggle defensively.

A brilliant try, brilliant vision and France are now on the scoreboard nice and early. Pauline Bourdon Sansus can spot gaps from anywhere. She's a slippery person to tackle so you can't give her any space.

France with the early penalty and Lina Queyroi will go to the corner as the hosts look to apply some early pressure on Ireland...

Jade Konkel
Scotland & Harlequins forward

The atmosphere is always electric in France. You see the flags waving, the fans chanting. They know how to put on a party!

Referee Kat Roche blows the whistle and Ireland kick off!

There's a crowd of 14,000 in Le Mans and they're in full voice for La Marseillaise.

A huge cheer goes up and the sides get into position.

Today's referee is Kat Roche.

There's a great atmosphere at the Mari Marvingt Stadium as the two teams come onto the pitch.

The anthems are about to start and then we'll be into the action...

Ireland international hooker Cliodhna Moloney is realistic that the Irish face a huge task in Le Mans today but still believes they can target home wins against Italy, Wales and Scotland during the campaign.

Here are more of her thoughts in her BBC Sport Six Nations column.

With less than 10 minutes until kick-off, both teams are finishing up their warm-ups at the Mari Marvingt Stadium in Le Mans.

There is some light rain which is expected to get worse over the course of the afternoon...

Here's France's team named by joint-head coaches Gaelle Mignot and David Ortiz for today's clash with Ireland:

15. Emilie Boulard (FFR/Blagnac RF)

14.Kelly Arbey (AOL/Stade Toulousain)

13. Nassira Konde (FFR/Stade Bordelais)

12. Gabrielle Vernier (FFR/Blagnac RF)

11. Marine Menager (FFR/Montpellier HR)

10. Lina Queyroi (FFR/Blagnac RF)

9. Pauline Bourdon Sansus (FFR/Stade Toulousain)

1. Annaelle Deshayes (FFR/Stade Bordelais)

2. Agathe Sochat (FFR/Stade Bordelais)

3. Assia Khalfaoui (FFR/Stade Bordelais)

4. Manae Feleu (FFR/FC Grenoble Amazones) (capt)

5. Madoussou Fall (FFR/Stade Bordelais)

6. Charlotte Escudero (FFR/Stade Toulousain)

7. Gaelle Hermet (FFR/Stade Toulousain)

8. Romane Menager (FFR/Montpellier HR)

Replacements:

16. Elisa Riffonneau (Ealing Trailfinders)

17. Ambre Mwayembe (AOL/FC Grenoble Amazones)

18. Clara Joyeux (FFR/Blagnac RF)

19. Kiara Zago (AOL/Stade Toulousain)

20. Emeline Gros (FFR/FC Grenoble Amazones)

21. Alexandra Chambon (FFR/FC Grenoble Amazones)

22. Lina Tuy (AOL/ASM Romagnat)

23. Morgane Bourgeois (FFR/Stade Bordelais)

France won 53-3 when they last played Ireland in Cork last April. They scored nine tries that day, including braces from Bourdon Sansus and centre Gabrielle Vernier, despite losing prop Annaëlle Deshayes to a first half red card.

Here are the last five meetings between the two sides:

2023: Ireland 3 France 53

2022: France 40 Ireland 5

2021: Ireland 15 France 56

2019: Ireland 17 France 47

2018: France 24 Ireland 0.

Here's Ireland's match day squad selected by head-coach Scott Bemand to face France this afternoon at the Stade Marie-Marvingt in the opening round of the Women's Six Nations:

15. Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby)14. Katie Corrigan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)*13. Eve Higgins (Railway Union/Leinster)12. Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere/Leinster)11. Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College/Connacht)10. Nicole Fowley (Galwegians/Connacht)9. Aoibheann Reilly (Blackrock College/Connacht)

1. Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/Leinster)2. Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury)3. Christy Haney Blackrock College/Leinster)4. Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College/Munster)5. Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College/Leinster)6. Aoife Wafer (Blackrock College/Leinster)7. Edel McMahon (Exeter Chiefs) Captain8. Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere /Ulster)

Replacements:

16. Sarah Delaney (Blackrock College/Leinster)17. Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere/Leinster)18. Sadhbh McGrath (Cooke/Ulster)19. Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere/Ulster)20. Grace Moore (Saracens/IQ Rugby)21. Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Leinster)22. Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere/Leinster)23. Méabh Deely (Blackrock College/Connacht)

Leinster wing Katie Corrigan will make her Ireland debut today against the French in Le Mans.

The 18-year-old wins her first cap after impressing during the recent Celtic Challenge competition.

Image source, Inpho

A side that finished with the Wooden Spoon last season after losing all five games could probably have done with an easier Six Nations opener than France away, but that's the way chips have fallen for Ireland.

Ireland's hugely disappointing 2023 campaign led to the departure of coach Greg McWilliams and former England attack coach Scott Bemand is now in charge of the Irish.

Bemand guided Ireland to success in the inaugural WXV3 tournament in Dubai during the autumn but the Six Nations will be a big step up in standard from that trip when Ireland hammered Kazakhstan and Colombia 108-0 and 64-3, before edging out Spain 15-13 to take the title.

The new Ireland coach's rebuilding job has only five starters from last season's game against the French in Cork when the eventual Six Nations runners-up clinched a 53-3 victory.

We look forward to you joining us for our text commentary from Le Mans today while you can also watch the game live on the BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and BBC Sport website

Image source, Inpho