Flannery warns Ireland

Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery has warned his side they must “hit the ground running” when they meet France on Saturday.

Ireland made a poor start to the RBS 6 Nations Championship campaign with unfancied Italy restricting them to an unconvincing 26-16 victory at Lansdowne Road.

Skipper Brian O’Driscoll admitted after the game that if Ireland misfire so spectacularly again, they will be “obliterated” by the French who will be desperate to avenge yesterday’s 20-16 shock defeat by Scotland.

They did not recover from Italy’s early onslaught until the second half and Flannery knows a similar opening against Les Bleus will be punished far more ruthlessly.

“We just have to be ready for what’s waiting when we run out against France. We have to hit the ground running against them and can’t afford to be sloppy,” he said.

“Pace-wise I’ve played games for Munster which have been jut as fast as Saturday’s match but Italy were very physical.

“I’d never played against the Italians before but they were bruisers and France will be the same. Maybe if we’d been quicker off the mark matching then in terms of physicality it would have been easier for us.

“The lads told me Italy would be the most physical pack in the Six Nations and France will offer a similar challenge.”

Flannery celebrated his full Test debut – he made a substitute appearance against Romania in November – with the opening try.

O’Driscoll suggested it was Ronan O’Gara who actually touched down only to slip the ball to Flannery, but the Munster front row confirmed afterwards the try was “definitely” his.

Overall the Test rookie was pleased with his first Six Nations performance and felt Ireland’s line-out improved dramatically after the interval.

“It was great to score on my debut. It was such a tight game and we needed the points on the board,” he said.

“I enjoyed scoring the try but we needed to get up and get back on with the game so I couldn’t dwell on it. The try wouldn’t have mattered if lost the game, but as did it caps the day.

“I was satisfied with my performance. We lost the first couple of line-outs and as the game went improved 100% in the second half.”

Eddie O’Sullivan names his team for France at lunchtime tomorrow but the Ireland boss has indicated he will not be making sweeping changes.

He has a handful of options available, with Rory Best a possible replacement for Flannery while Donncha O’Callaghan could be promoted from the bench at the expense of Malcolm O’Kelly.

There is room for manoeuvre in the back row and with Anthony Foley being added to the squad yesterday, one of Simon Easterby, Denis Leamy and David Wallace could find themselves squeezed out.

The threequarters misfired against Italy and O’Sullivan could call on Denis Hickie, Andrew Trimble or Girvan Dempsey to provide some spark.