Six Nations: Ireland v France match preview, team news and stats
- Published
Six Nations: It's about he players and not me - Schmidt
Six Nations |
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Venue: Aviva Stadium Date: Sunday, 10 March Kick-off: 3pm GMT |
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio Ulster and Text commentary on BBC Sport website. |
Team news
Veteran flanker Sean O'Brien has been dropped in one of seven Ireland changes for Sunday's match against France.
Six of those fresh faces come in the pack with Josh van der Flier replacing O'Brien, and skipper Rory Best and Cian Healy restored to the front row.
Forwards Iain Henderson, James Ryan and CJ Stander also start while Garry Ringrose comes in at outside centre.
France have named an unchanged starting XV for only the second time in Six Nations history.
What's at stake?
Joe Schmidt is taking charge of his final home Six Nations match before he steps down as Ireland head coach after the World Cup later this year.
Ireland, who face Wales in Cardiff next week, still entertain outside hopes of retaining their title after beating Scotland and then Italy.
They must overcome a French side who defeated Scotland last time out to give their confidence a much-needed boost following the hammering by England at Twickenham.
Fly-half Romain Ntamack keeps his place in an unchanged French starting XV to face Ireland
Line-ups
Ireland: 15-Rob Kearney, 14-Keith Earls, 13-Garry Ringrose, 12-Bundee Aki, 11-Jacob Stockdale, 10-Jonathan Sexton, 9-Conor Murray; 1-Cian Healy, 2-Rory Best (captain), 3-Tadhg Furlong, 4-Iain Henderson, 5-James Ryan, 6-Peter O'Mahony, 7-Josh van der Flier, 8-CJ Stander.
Replacements: 16-Niall Scannell, 17-Dave Kilcoyne, 18-John Ryan, 19-Ultan Dillane, 20-Jack Conan, 21-John Cooney, 22-Jack Carty, 23-Jordan Larmour.
France: 15-Thomas Ramos, 14-Damian Penaud, 13-Mathieu Bastareaud, 12-Gael Fickou, 11-Yoann Huget, 10-Romain Ntamack, 9-Antoine Dupont; 1-Jefferson Poirot, 2-Guilhem Guirado (captain), 3-Demba Bamba, 4-Sebastien Vahaamahina, 5-Felix Lambey, 6-Wenceslas Lauret, 7-Arthur Iturria, 8-Louis Picamoles.
Replacements: 16-Camille Chat, 17-Etienne Falgoux, 18-Dorian Aldegheri, 19-Paul Willemse, 20-Gregory Alldritt, 21-Baptiste Serin, 22-Anthony Belleau, 23-Maxime Medard.
Commentator's notes
Eddie Butler: Dupont, Penaud, Ramos, Ntamack… the little group within the big group. The future. France are planning for the Rugby World Cup they will host in 2023.
Pressure off then for 2019. If right now they can play like they did against Scotland, then the soggy, sad second half of the opening game against Wales, and the whole Twickenham shambles can be overlooked.
If there is promise there is forgiveness. The trouble is, Ireland are pretty unforgiving in Dublin. Having had the bonnet up against England and Italy, it is time to shut it firmly and feel the efficiency and power of the Joe Schmidt engine.
Or maybe not… Ireland to win, without being totally back to form; France to lose, promisingly (if that's possible).
View from both camps
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt: "It will be hard to say goodbye. We have had some great occasions at Lansdowne Road over the years.
"I mentioned it to my wife yesterday that it would be my final Six Nations home game.
"We have not been as cohesive as we would like to be in our first three matches but we are hoping we have a great performance on Sunday."
France head coach Jacques Brunel: "The Irish are going to put pressure on us with their kicking game whether it's Conor Murray or Johnny Sexton.
"We will try to master this characteristic of the Irish game. We watched their tournament matches, we saw their ability to hold the ball and inflict long sequences on their opponents.
"We know what to expect but they were well beaten by the English. There are weaknesses and we will try to pressurise those."
Match facts
Head-to-head
Ireland have lost just one of the last eight meetings (W5, D2).
Nine of the last 11 meetings have been settled by a single-figure margin.
Ireland
Ireland have won 20 of their last 22 matches in all competitions, losing two.
Jacob Stockdale has scored nine tries in his eight Six Nations appearances.
France
France's win over Scotland last time out was just their second in their last 10 Tests.
Les Bleus have made a tournament-high 48 offloads; Ireland have a tournament-low of just nine.
Match officials
Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Angus Gardner (Australia) & Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
- Published15 February 2019
