Ireland name unchanged team to face France

Unsurprisingly, Declan Kidney has selected the same starting XV that ran up a 42-10 score line against Italy for their Six Nations showdown with France on Sunday (3pm).

Wed, 29 Feb, 2012 - 13:23

Unsurprisingly, Declan Kidney has selected the same starting XV that ran up a 42-10 score line against Italy for their Six Nations showdown with France on Sunday (3pm).

The former Munster coach has now named the same team for all three games of this year’s Six Nations. However he was forced to make a late change for the opening game against Wales when Keith Earls withdrew for personal reasons.

Impressive substitute performances from Donnacha Ryan and in particular Eoin Reddan against the Azzurri weren’t enough to see them break into the starting team with both named amongst the replacements.

At today’s team announcement Kidney insisted that it wasn’t simply a case of going for the same team again.

“The lads who came on did exceptionally well and made hugely positive impact,” he said. “But I had to weigh that up with the work that was done by the lads in the first 50 or 60 minutes, how they had done unattractive or unseen work in breaking down Italy.

“I never look at it as picking the same team again. It’s not that simple you have to look at each position and each unit.”

Ireland travel to Paris in search of their first Six Nations win on French soil since 2000 but with momentum on the back of that convincing win over Italy.

Captain Paul O’Connell, who will make his 85th Ireland appearance on Sunday, believes the game against Italy as well as the lessons learnt from the defeat to Wales will stand to Ireland at the weekend.

However the big lock refuses to underestimate the scale of the challenge awaiting him and his teammates.

“It’s always a very tough game as our record has shown,” he said.

“France are a top-class side: you saw at the weekend Scotland had them under pressure at times, but when you give them a half-opportunity they're deadly.

“We conceded momentum and pressure too easily against Wales at times," he added. "If we do the same against France it’ll be a very tough day."

“I thought we played well at the weekend, particularly in the second half. We’ve trained well and we have a hungry bench that have done well when they’ve come on.

“It’ll be a tough challenge but we’re looking forward to it."

IRELAND Team & Replacements (v France, 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Stade De France, Sunday, March 4, kick-off 4pm local time/3pm Irish time):

15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)

14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)

13 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)

12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)

11 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)

9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)

1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)

2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)

3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)