Thanks to injuries clearing up, Declan Kidney has left well enough alone and named exactly the same team for the trip to Paris on Sunday. Again.
After a 32-point win over Italy it may have been harsh to drop anybody for the France game and that seems to have been Kidney’s thinking. We were all impressed with the impact Eoin Reddan made when he came in and we all enjoyed seeing the various shuffling in the Irish backline near the end against the Azzurri too.
But did anyone really think that would be implemented in arguably our toughest game of the Six Nations? If we are to see Reddan, or Peter O’Mahony, or Donnacha Ryan, we will have to wait until after the hour mark yet again on Sunday it seems.
The good news is that the weather in Paris is grand so there should be no cancellations this time. All we need now is a performance.
Ireland team v France: Kearney; Bowe, Earls, D’Arcy, Trimble; Sexton, Murray; Healy, Best, Ross; O’Connell, O’Callaghan; Ferris, O’Brien, Heaslip.
Replacements: Cronin, Court, Ryan, O’Mahony, Reddan, O’Gara, McFadden.
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