|
France head coach Jacques Brunel has named an unchanged team to face Ireland in the Six Nations on Sunday. The French secured an important victory in their last match at home to Scotland, which followed comprehensive defeats to Wales and England. Brunel made five changes to his side ahead of the Scotland clash in an attempt to save France's campaign, dropping Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez, and has stuck with the same XV ahead of the trip to defending champions Ireland. Romain Ntamack retains his place at No. 10, alongside Antoine Dupont at scrum-half. Ntamack, 19, and 22-year-old scrum-half Dupont put on a promising performance in a 27-10 home victory against Scotland in the previous round, and the pair will be put to test again at the Aviva Stadium. "The context will be different and I hope our pack will put the half-backs in good conditions," Brunel told a news conference on Tuesday. With Ireland expected to rely on Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray's kicking game to unsettle the French, the 23-year-old Thomas Ramos will again start at fullback. France, who lost 24-19 to Wales in their opener, paid a heavy price for fielding winger Yoann Huget at fullback and centres on the wings in a 44-8 thrashing by England, when they were bombarded by their rivals' offensive kicks. "We work on this every week," Brunel said. "The Irish know how to put you under pressure with high kicks, notably with Murray, we worked on this specifically." Scrumhalf Morgan Parra, who along with fly-half Camille Lopez had been omitted for the Scotland game after criticising the management, has been ruled out due to injury. France team to play Ireland 15. Thomas Ramos, 14. Damian Penaud, 13. Mathieu Bastareaud, 12. Gael Fickou, 11. Yoann Huget, 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Antoine Dupont; 1. Jefferson Poirot, 2. Guilhem Guirado (c), 3. Demba Bamba, 4. Sebastien Vahaamahina, 5. Felix Lambey, 6. Wenceslas Lauret, 7. Arthur Iturria, 8. Louis Picamoles Replacements: 16. Camille Chat, 17. Etienne Falgoux, 18. Dorian Aldegheri, 19. Paul Willemse, 20. Gregory Alldritt, 21. Baptiste Serin, 22. Anthony Belleau, 23. Maxime Medard Information from Reuters contributed to this report
|
