FRANCE v IRELAND: 6 Nations

14.02.2015

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Preview
The return of Ireland’s leading players will make Ireland an even stronger side than the one that comfortably put Italy away last weekend. France has not lost to Ireland at Dublin since 2009 but that record will be under threat come Saturday.

For Ireland Sexton, O'Brien and Heaslip return to the starting line up whilst Healy comes onto the bench.

France has made only one change from the side that struggled against Scotland.

Last Five Encounters
15.03.2014 Ireland 22-20 in Paris (6 Nations)
09.03.2013 Drawn 13-13 in Dublin (6 Nations)
04.03.2012 Drawn 17-17 in Paris (6 Nations)
20.08.2011 France 26-22 in Dublin (WC Warm up)
13.08.2011 France 19-12 in Bordeaux (WC Warm up)

France Last Five P 5, W 3, L 2
07.02.2015 v Scotland W 15-8 in Paris (6 Nations)
22.11.2014 v Argentina L 13-18 in Paris
15.11.2014 v Australia W 29-26 in Paris
08.11.2014 v Fiji W 40-15 in Marseille
21.06.2014 v Australia L 13-39 in Sydney

Ireland Last Five P 5, W 5
07.02.2015 v Italy W 26-3 in Rome (6 Nations)
22.11.2014 v Australia W 26-23 in Dublin
16.11.2014 v Georgia W 49-7 in Dublin
08.11.2014 v South Africa W 29-15 in Dublin
14.06.2014 v Argentina W 23-17 in Tucuman

Ireland have won their last eight test matches in a row. Their record is ten consecutive wins September 2002 to March 2003.

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table- Ireland 1st, France 11th
Europe Table- Ireland 2nd, France 4th

IRB Ranking Points
Ireland 85.48, France 80.27

Prediction: Ireland by 12 points

Teams

France
15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements
16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Rémi Lamerat.

Ireland
15 Robert Kearney, 14 Thomas Bowe, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robert Henshaw,
11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 James Heaslip,
7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Paul O'Connell, (Capt.) 4 Devin Toner,
3 Michael Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements
16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Felix Jones