Kidney focus solely on France

Declan Kidney doesn’t do surprises. Especially not when he has settled on a team he likes. That’s why there were no great gasps from the fourth estate when he named his team to meet France yesterday.

While the French will worry about the probable sub-zero temperatures for the game, the Irish coach masked any doubts he had with just one change to the starting XV. Keith Earls returns for Fergus McFadden, who drops to the bench to replace young David Kearney.

A reason for his calm presentation may well have been the quiet sense of satisfaction emanating from the Irish camp at Carton House after Stephen Ferris had been cleared to play, following his on and off field brushes with officialdom this last week.