Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has resisted the temptation to tinker with his starting line-up for Saturday's crunch Six Nations clash with France, and instead afforded his misfiring first XV another chance to impress after the poor showing against Italy.
The eight players called into the training squad on Sunday have again been overlooked as the Ireland coach also opted to name the same personnel on the bench.
The only question mark surrounds the involvement of number eight Denis Leamy. The 24-year-old is in line to win his eighth cap at the Stade de France but must first wait on the outcome of a disciplinary hearing in London tomorrow having been cited for an alleged stamp on Italian scrumhalf Paul Griffen.
Anthony Foley will replace Leamy if his Munster team-mate is found guilty. "We're going to hear the result tomorrow. If he's cleared he'll play on Saturday. Anthony Foley will start if he's not cleared," said O'Sullivan.
Irish skipper Brian O'Driscoll, who escaped any censure after being accused of the same offence by Azurri coach Pierre Berbizier, sat out training this morning having picked up a knock yesterday. However, O'Sullivan revealed this was merely a precautionary measure and fully expects the centre to play a full part at the weekend.
For his part, O’Driscoll was not surprised that the citing commissioner found he had no case to answer . "Having reviewed it on the video footage, I thought it was perfectly legal," he said.
Explaining his selection, O'Sullivan said he saw no need for change, and felt the players would step up their individual and collective performances in Paris.
"It wasn't a good performance by us but it was collectively poor so there was no real case for making sweeping changes," he said. "What you have to do in these situations is give guys another chance to get their confidence up. We need to improve in Paris. France will be disappointed with their performance against Scotland.
"They made a lot of unforced errors and there will be a backlash from that. They will want to put certain things right."
Ireland will have to produce a huge improvement if they are to have any hope of inflicting further misery on Les Blues with O'Sullivan declaring patience is the key.
"Our set piece was fine against Italy, except with our line-out early on," he said. "Our defence was excellent but in attack we tried to do too much in front of the gain line and got knocked down behind it. We struggled to gain momentum and I thought Italy played very well.
"It turned into a very stop-start game - there were 64 set pieces in the game which is extraordinarily high in this day and age, especially on a dry day. But that defined the type of match it was and it didn't suit us. We've attributed that to forcing the game at times."
France are due to name their team on Thursday but have recalled some big guns to the training squad. London Irish flanker Olivier Magne, Serge Betsen, Raphael Ibanez and Pascal Pape have returned to train with the forwards, while giant centre Damien Traille and wing Aurelien Rougerie will also be in the shake-up.
Magne and Betsen have recently come back from injury but both are top-class backrow forwards with 130 caps between them.
Ibanez is also a player of vast experience, with 74 caps to his name. His club form with Wasps has been excellent and he would, if picked, represent a serious challenge for hooker Jerry Flannery in the frontrow
Pape’s inclusion represents another strong option in second row for Laporte.
Behind the scrum France will again be without the O’Drsicoll of French rugby, Yannick Jauzion, but Damien Traille’s return goes some-way to softening that blow. Both he and Rougerie - arguably first choices when fit - represent the depth of talent at Laporte’s disposal.
Nonetheless O’Driscoll still believes that Jauzion’s absence is significant.
"It’s always positive when you are meeting a French side without him (Jauzion). He’s been the guy that has pulled the strings for them over the last year. He has showed this year that he is possibly the best back in the world," said the captain.
"He’s been hugely influential for the French team. So, he’ll be a big loss for them."
