Jack Crowley, Calvin Nash and Joe McCarthy will start for Ireland against France

TEAM NAMED: Head coach Andy Farrell has named his Ireland team to face France. Pic Credit. Dan Sheridan, Inpho.

Jack Crowley, Calvin Nash and Joe McCarthy will all start against France on Friday night as Andy Farrell looks to deliver a Guinness Six Nations victory in Marseille he believes would rank as one of Ireland’s greatest.

The 2023 Grand Slam winners will be without midfield linchpin Garry Ringrose who left the squad with a shoulder injury on Wednesday as Ireland flew to the south of France for the championship opener at Stade Velodrome.

Robbie Henshaw will fill the void at outside centre in partnership with Bundee Aki, one of four changes from Ireland’s last outing 16 weeks ago when they narrowly lost a World Cup quarter-final to New Zealand in Paris.

Crowley is handed the number 10 jersey to replace the now retired Johnny Sexton as Peter O’Mahony succeeds the 38-year-old as captain while Nash comes in for the injured Mack Hansen on the right wing and McCarthy joins the second row alongside Tadhg Beirne with quarter-final starter Iain Henderson omitted from the matchday 23.

Head coach Farrell has for the first time in his four-year tenure named a replacements bench with six forwards and two backs, James Ryan, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan offering power in reserve for the back five of the pack while Ciaran Frawley is the versatile choice to cover fly-half and the outside backs with Conor Murray backing up Jamison Gibson-Park at scrum-half.

France have named a powerhouse team for their first game since a World Cup last-eight exit on home soil to eventual champions South Africa and beating them in Marseille, as Stade de France is refitted for this summer’s Paris Olympics would represent a famous victory for Ireland, Farrell agreed.

"I think so, would you?” the Ireland boss said on Wednesday. “I think so, as in we all realise it's a huge game. It's mouth-watering, isn't it?

"It will be a great game to watch, there's no doubt about that and the stadium, the atmosphere, it being the first game of the Six Nations after a World Cup, if you can't get excited about that, you're in the wrong place.

"For us, it's just living up to our own expectations, we expect to perform on the big stage and it doesn't really get any bigger than this one.” Farrell added: "The exciting thing for me is are we brave enough, have we got enough courage to go and do what we said we're going to do and obviously we're playing against a world, world class side.

"But taking your opportunity and being the best version of ourselves is the expectation that we have of ourselves, so living up to that is going to be demanding for us but if you want to be successful, if you want to try to be the best, then you've got to beat the best in places like this and the occasion doesn't get much bigger. We've got to relish those types of occasions and go after them.”

Farrell backed Munster playmaker Crowley, 24, to make the most of his opportunity as Sexton’s successor and credited the time he spent with the veteran fly-half since his November 2022 Test debut against Fiji and culminating in Ireland’s lengthy World Cup preparation and campaign.

"He's a confident kid, Jack, so being able to grab hold of the team. It's tough for young kids, especially with responsibilities like in his position but he feels very comfortable in being able to do that.

"How you run a week is pretty important and you're making sure that the rest of your team mates feel that you're in control. He's obviously learned a lot from Johnny in that regard.

"Harry (Byrne) is pretty good at that as well and Ciarán Frawley is getting better at that, but the only thing is that matters is the performance, isn't it?

"Taking that preparation, that's been good, very good actually, in camp and transferring it to a performance that we all want to see.”

FRANCE: T Ramos (Toulouse); D Penaud (Bordeaux-Begles), G Fickou (Racing 92), J Danty (La Rochelle), Y Moefana (Bordeaux-Bègles); M Jalibert (Bordeaux-Bègles), M Lucu (Bordeaux-Bègles); C Baille (Toulouse), P Mauvaka (Toulouse) U Atonio (La Rochelle); P Gabrillagues (Stade Francais), P Willemse (Montpellier); F Cros (Toulouse), C Ollivon (Toulon), G Alldritt (La Rochelle) – captain.

Replacements: J Marchand (Toulouse), R Wardi (La Rochelle), D Aldegheri (Toulouse), R Taofifenua (Lyon), C Woki (Racing 92), P Boudehent (La Rochelle), R Le Garrec (Racing 92), L Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux-Bègles).

IRELAND: H Keenan (Leinster); C Nash (Munster), R Henshaw (Leinster), B Aki (Connacht), J Lowe (Leinster); J Crowley (Munster), J Gibson-Park (Leinster); A Porter (Leinster), D Sheehan (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster); J McCarthy (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster); P O’Mahony (Munster) - captain, J van der Flier (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster).

Replacements: R Kelleher (Leinster), C Healy (Leinster), F Bealham (Connacht), J Ryan (Leinster), R Baird (Leinster), J Conan (Leinster), C Murray (Munster), C Frawley (Leinster).