Rugby:Ireland coach Declan Kidney has kept faith with Conor Murray at scrumhalf for the visit to Paris to face France in the Six Nations on Sunday. The Munster man's physicality was expected to earn him the nod, despite an impressive 25 minutes from replacement Eoin Reddan against Italy on Saturday.
The starting XV, therefore, is the same that took to the field in the 42-10 win over the Azzurri, with secondrow Donnacha Ryan also remaining on the bench behind Munster team-mate Donncha O’Callaghan.
“We just did exactly what we did after the last match, we took a look at how each player played,” said Kidney this afternoon. “We had an eight-day turnaround which allowed fellas 24 or 48 hours to freshen up.
“The lads trained well yesterday. There are obviously a number of fellas I would like to give a start to. That’s never the issue, but you have to weigh it up then with all the guys who started and played. I didn’t think, you know, the errors that we made, I think we can adjust.”
He added: “I think the lads who came on did exceptionally well, they all came on and made a hugely positive impact. But I had to weigh that up with the work that was done by the other lads in the first 50, 60 or 70 minutes.
“They had done a lot of what you might call unattractive or unseen work in breaking Italy down and then when the lads came on they were fresh and with their skill levels they were able to exploit the damage that was done early on.”
O’Callaghan will start alongside captain Paul O’Connell, who expects nothing but “tough game” from the hosts on Sunday.
“France are a top side,” he said, “we saw at the weekend Scotland had them under pressure at times but when you give them a half opportunity they’re deadly.
However, in contrast to when Ireland were first scheduled to meet the French on February 11th - a game that was called off at the last minute because of a frozen pitch - O’Connell insists Ireland are in “a good place”.
“I thought we played well at the weekend, particularly in the second half, we’ve trained well. As Declan says, we’ve an excellent bench, a hard and hungry bench, I suppose.
“They’ve done well then they’ve come on and trained well, there has been an intensity to training. It’ll be a tough challenge but we’re looking forward to it.”
France this morning announced two changes to the side that beat Scotland 23-17 last weekend. Phillippe Saint-André has brought Clement Poitrenaud in at fullback for the injured Maxim Medard, while in the backrow Louis Picamoles makes way for Julien Bonnaire and Imanol Harinordoquy moves to number eight.
The backrow combination will be the third used by the coach in three games and is part of his ongoing efforts to tidy up some sloppy lineout play. In the opening game against Italy he started with captain Thierry Dusautoir, Picamoles at number eight and Bonnaire, but the latter made way for Harinordoquy ahead of Ireland's wasted trip to Paris earlier this month.
Saint-André saw no reason to change that for Scotland, but after losing two more lineouts on Sunday, he has now opted to drop Picamoles and start with the backrow that began the one-point defeat to New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final in October under his predecessor Marc Liévremont.
"We had problems in the lineouts at the beginning of the Scotland game," Saint-Andre admitted today. "Julien Bonnaire is going to help a lot in this department. Imanol's presence is a guarantee in the lineouts and with Louis on the bench we will have a lot of power when he comes on."
Hooker William Servat will be among the replacements after Saint-André opted to retain Dmitri Szarzewski. Servat, however, will undoubtedly be introduced around the hour mark to reinforce the homeside's scrum.
Szarzewski, Saint-André said, "needs to be more confident" after missing a few tackles against Scotland, but the coach insists he is “sure of his talent”.
Francois Trinh-Duc, meanwhile, has been retained at outhalf after Lionel Beauxis had been tipped to start, following an impressive cameo off the bench against Scotland.
"We wanted to continue with Morgan (Parra) and Francois, and the 10-12-13 line needs to play together," said the coach.
Ireland (v France):R Kearney, T Bowe, K Earls, G D'Arcy, A Trimble, J Sexton, C Murray; C Healy, R Best, M Ross; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (capt); S Ferris, S O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: S Cronin, T Court, D Ryan, P O'Mahony, E Reddan, R O'Gara, F McFadden.
France (v Ireland): C Poitrenaud; V Clerc, A Rougerie, W Fofana, J Malzieu; F Trinh-Duc, M Parra; J-B Poux, D Szarzewski, N Mas, P Pape, Y Maestri, T Dusautoir (capt), J Bonnaire, I Harinordoquy. Replacements: W Servat, V Debaty, L Nallet, L Picamoles, J Dupuy, L Beauxis, M Mermoz .
