Joe Schmidt has named his Ireland starting fifteen for Sunday’s Six Nations visit of France at the Aviva Stadium with no fewer than seven changes from their win over Italy.
CJ Stander and Garry Ringrose will both make their return from injury for Les Bleus this weekend.
The pair – who missed the wins against Scotland and the Azzurri are among the more than half dozen changes for Jacquel Brunel’s inconsistent French outfit.
Ringrose is the only fresh face in the back line, coming into the centre for Chris Farrell.
Stander missed Ireland’s last two matches with a facial injury, but will beef up the back of the scrum alongside Josh van der Flier and Peter O’Mahony.
Cian Healy, Rory Best, Iain Henderson, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier and CJ Stander all return in the pack where there’s no room for Sean O’Brien who’s out of the 23 names.
Dave Kilcoyne and Ultan Dillane drop to the bench, joining Niall Scannell, John Ryan, Jack Conan, John Cooney, Jack Carty and Jordan Larmour on the replacements bench.
Ireland starting XV:
15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 89 caps
14. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 75 caps
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 18 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 15 caps
11. Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 17 caps
10. Jonathan Sexton (St Marys College/Leinster) 81 caps (vc)
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 70 caps
1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 86 caps
2. Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 115 caps (c)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 31 caps
4. Iain Henderson (Queens University/Ulster) 43 caps
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 15 caps
6. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 55 caps (vc)
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 16 caps
8. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 29 caps
Replacements:
16. Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 12 caps
17. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 27 caps
18. John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 17 caps
19. Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) 13 caps
20. Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 12 caps
21. John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 7 caps
22. Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 1 cap
23. Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 11 caps
Here's the Ireland team to play France on Sunday.#TeamOfUs #IREvFRA #ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/KTzjMrC0iM
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) March 8, 2019
☘️🇫🇷 Voici le composition de votre #XVdeFrance pour aller défier dimanche, l'Irlande, à Dublin ! #IRLFRA #NeFaisonsXV pic.twitter.com/9qzyvB9Uww
— France Rugby (@FranceRugby) March 5, 2019
