As expected, Declan Kidney has refused to ring the changes to the Ireland team to face France this weekend, with just one predictable change made to the starting XV.
That change sees the returning Keith Earls flighted into the centre instead of Fergus McFadden, who is still probably plagued by memories of being barrelled over by George North in the lead up to the second Welsh try on Sunday.
McFadden drops to the bench and replaces David Kearney as Kidney makes just one change to the 22 despite the flat and uninspiring performance delivered by Ireland against Wales last weekend.
Donncha O’Callaghan holds off the threat of Munster colleague Donnacha Ryan, whose neck is thankfully still in place despite Bradley Davies’ horror tackle last weekend, for which the Welsh lock was given a seven-week suspension.
No real surprises in the Ireland selection then, now all we have to do is go and win in Paris. If only it was that easy.
Kick off at the Stade de France is on Saturday at 8pm.
Ireland: Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Keith Earls, Gordon D’Arcy, Andrew Trimble; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Mike Ross; Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell; Stephen Ferris, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Tom Court, Donnacha Ryan, Peter O’Mahony, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O’Gara, Fergus McFadden
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