Caelan Doris, Finlay Bealham, Bundee Aki and Hugo Keenan are all expected to return to the Ireland starting XV to face France in Saturday’s crunch Six Nations clash at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 2.15pm) when Simon Easterby’s selection is announced at lunchtime on Thursday.
However, the signs are that the game has come just too soon for Tadhg Furlong, while there is also a doubt about Mack Hansen’s availability for the game.
Keenan is expected to return at fullback and if Hansen is ruled out, the signs are that Jamie Osborne will shift from the No 15 jersey he occupied against Wales to the right wing rather than recall Calvin Nash. The Munster wide man stepped into the 14 jersey in last season’s Six Nations, the South African Tests and Ireland’s second outing in this championship away to Scotland.
If so, this is probably in part based on the threat posed by the French kicking game, not least the crossfield kicks of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack to touchline-hugging French wingers, while also strengthening that aspect of Ireland’s attacking game.
With Garry Ringrose suspended, the near certainty is that Aki will start alongside Robbie Henshaw, with the Leinster player moving to outside centre in a reprise of their old Connacht midfield partnership.
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There seems little likelihood of Sam Prendergast not being retained alongside Jamison Gibson-Park at halfback for the 22-year-old outhalf’s fourth successive start of this Six Nations, and sixth in a row all told.
Up front, the expectation is that Finlay Bealham will return to the starting frontrow at tighthead alongside Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan, with the secondrow of Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne also being retained.
Finlay Bealham is set to return to the Ireland frontrow for the game against France. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
There have been confident noises since last week about Caelan Doris recovering completely from the knee injury which ruled him out of the Wales game and thus returning as captain and at number eight in between Peter O’Mahony and Josh van der Flier.
It would mean four changes in personnel to the starting XV, namely Keenan, Aki, Bealham and Doris, as well as one or two positional switches in Henshaw and Osborne.
It’s not entirely clear whether the Irish management will keep faith with their customary 5-3 split on the bench or plump for a 6-2 configuration, given their French counterparts have made little secret of their intention to again pick seven forwards among their replacements, as they did for the thumping 73-24 win in Rome last Sunday week.
Nonetheless, the absence of Ringrose, such an influential contributor to the epic win over France two years ago in the Aviva, removes the management’s favoured option of using one of their three frontline midfield players as an impact replacement in the No 23 jersey.
Furthermore, with James Ryan, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan all fit as potential reinforcements for the starting back five in the pack, there must be a strong temptation to include them all in a 6-2 split as a counter to the French “bomb squad”.
That would leave Conor Murray and Jack Crowley to provide backline cover.
It would also be no surprise if, in addition to O’Mahony and Murray, the third centurion for whom this will be a final home game, Cian Healy, also makes an emotional Aviva farewell in an Irish jersey. It would be a pleasant surprise if Furlong is named to make his first appearance of this Six Nations for what would be his first game since Leinster beat La Rochelle in January, but the odds are against it.
Romain Ntamack returns from suspension and is set to join Antoine Dupont at halfback for France. Photograph: Fred Porcu/Inpho
Nonetheless, the demands of this enormous game and that likely French bomb squad must have brought Rob Herring and Tom O’Toole, injured and suspended at the start of the championship, back into the mix.
Fabien Galthié is also due to unveil the French starting XV and replacements on Thursday morning and likewise some familiar faces are expected to return, namely winger Damien Penaud and outhalf Ntamack after his suspension for the red card he incurred in France’s opning win over Wales, meaning Thomas Ramos will revert to fullback.
Furthermore, Tongan-born tighthead Tevita Tatafu – Uini Atonio’s imminent successor and the future cornerstone of the French scrum –demonstrated his return to fitness in a 20-minute stint for Bayonne last weekend. The 21-year-old Pau prop Hugo Auradou is another option.
The huge Toulouse lock Emmanuel Meafou, who missed the Italian game through illness, is also expected to return to the 7-1 bench.
IRELAND (possible): Keenan; Osborne or Hansen, Henshaw, Aki, Lowe; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan, Bealham; J McCarthy, Beirne; O’Mahony, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).
Replacements: Herring or G McCarthy, Healy, Clarkson or O’Toole, Ryan, Baird, Conan, Murray, Crowley.
FRANCE (possible): Ramos; Penaud, Barassi, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Ntamack, Dupont (capt); Gros, Mauvaka, Atonio; Flament, Guillard; Cros, Boudehent, Alldritt.
Replacements: Marchand, Baille, Tatafu, Meafou, Roumat, Jegou, Jelonch, Lucu.
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2025-03-05 18:14:50
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