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Six NationsFranceIreland

Ireland make 7 changes to team for France clash

Ireland squad during anthems ahead of Italy game. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

Ireland have made seven changes to their starting XV for their Guinness Six Nations clash with France at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, from the side which struggled to a 26-16 win over Italy in round 3.

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Six of those have come in the pack, in the front row Tadhg Furlong is retained at tighthead, however captain Rory Best restored at hooker and Cian Healy comes in at loosehead. Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne and John Ryan are the front row replacements.

There is an all-new second row Iain Henderson and James Ryan replacing the Connacht duo of Ultan Dillane and Quinn Roux, with Roux dropping out of the 23-man squad altogether.

In the backrow Sean O’Brien and Jordi Murphy are also omitted from the squad, with Josh van der Flier chosen at openside, while CJ Stander is at number 8. Backrow cover on the bench is provided by Jack Conan.

In the backline the sole change sees Garry Ringrose named at outside centre, in place of Chris Farrell, who also fails to make the 23.

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Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton get another chance to reclaim some form. John Cooney has fended off Kieran Marmion to provide scrum half cover, while Joey Carbery hasn’t recovered recovered from a hamstring injury which means that Connacht’s Jack Carty has a chance to claim his second cap from the bench. Versatile Leinster back Jordan Larmour is also among the replacements.

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15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 89 caps
14. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 75 caps
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 18 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 15 caps
11. Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 17 caps
10. Jonathan Sexton (St Marys College/Leinster) 81 caps (vc)
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 70 caps

1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 86 caps
2. Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 115 caps (c)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 31 caps
4. Iain Henderson (Queens University/Ulster) 43 caps
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 15 caps
6. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 55 caps (vc)
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 16 caps
8. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 29 caps

Replacments:
16. Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 12 caps
17. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 27 caps
18. John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 17 caps
19. Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) 13 caps
20. Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 12 caps
21. John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 7 caps
22. Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 1 cap
23. Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 11 caps

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Comments on RugbyPass

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PickOllieMathisYeowRazorYouCoward 44 minutes ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

Sux Big Jim did himself a mischief, I’m dying to see him get a crack at 12. He looked ok in his limited minutes.

But Jordie will need to be injured before surf Jesus will consider it.



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J
Jacque 49 minutes ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Parker = AVG at best

Holland = NPC Level



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C
Chris929 1 hour ago
Top five Premiership Women’s Rugby transfers for 2025/26

Your basing things on no facts-we simply dont yet know what impact having so many non english players will have . Its only been in the last 4-5 years that the number of non english has grown so greatly at many clubs.

The vast majority of the current red roses squad have been in it for years(many since they were 18,19,20).



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10 Go to comments
B
BK 1 hour ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

The WBs are a bad sample in rating a power player. Let’s see what he does against the Boks in the cauldron of their stadiums and then we can start to say he should be there till ‘27.

19 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

100%… particully the last sentence

123 Go to comments
B
BK 1 hour ago
The losers of the All Blacks' Rugby Championship campaign

Other than a few key players i.e Savea, Jordie, Jordan, it is telling on what a constant turnstile of players the jersey has become which can only signify that we do not have stalwarts that deserve the jersey the way other players have in the past. It used to be that at least 10 out of 15 players were arguably the best at their positions. Other than Jordan, who can you say the same of … Savea is an incredible all round loose forward but without an ability to master his core roles above all like a Steph Du Toit can we even say that he’s the best in the world. It’s hard to stomach.

6 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

I don’t personally. I think a lot of people are confusing Razors need to do something to take this team to the next level, now that South Africa have gone their, to the mediocre pile of crap Fosters was. Razor nearly just won the best/toughest RC in history.

I think Joe would be great replacing Wayne Smith. I think you get all his upsides without so much of his rigidness that he introduced to their structure.



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P
PMcD 1 hour ago
App comment - https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/if-the-boks-beauty-doesnt-get-you-its-bomb-squad-beast-certainly-will/

Will Stuart is actually an introvert, which isn’t what you expect of a 140GK International tighthead. Will started life playing 10 (which is why he still has good hands) and converted to prop. He was always good around the park but his scrummaging wasn’t as good as it needed to be at Wasps.

Once Du Toit came, the Bath scrum improved but you actually saw all of the props get better, which they said was down to Du Toit in training. He does his sessions but is very open about helping the others and helps that he tells you what to do but then packs down either side of the scrum to show you, which is why he has made them all better (that’s a tough school of propping).



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G
GodOfFriedChicken 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Are you saying that he didn’t show up? Because he most definitely did for Moana on both sides of the ball, running the ball well, sometimes superhumanly so, and getting timely turnovers. He’s done the same in the black jersey too. It was pretty damn convenient that he was the one with not only the final turnover against the Boks at Eden Park but also being part of the counter ruck that ended it, while featuring heavily in the attack. The team’s an inconsistent mess in so many areas and he’s one of the only players who’s been consistent in almost every game barring the Wellington catastrophe. They definitely need to start grooming a successor given his age but effort is definitely not his problem.

123 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Those were comments for Fosters book. JS spoke again on the matter last week and said as much.

123 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

He didn’t ignore them, they were unavailable.

123 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

De Groot is great but he’s far from our most consistent player. And like you said, he won’t always get to start which is going back to one of the big issues with Scooter - he’s consistently getting outplayed by other All Black locks.

123 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Yep their contracting model is destroying the game. They are possibly offering too much to retain players.

Kemara was ahead of O’Connor but I think only playing himself because Reihana was injured.



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123 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Yep, with Codie Taylor and George Bell around it’d be great if he went to the Highlanders and got some more game time.

123 Go to comments
P
PMcD 2 hours ago
App comment - https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/if-the-boks-beauty-doesnt-get-you-its-bomb-squad-beast-certainly-will/

NB - are you using that logic stuff again? 🤣🤣🤣

Yes, you may be correct, actually playing the best 13 in his correct position of . . . . (Ahem!!) 13, does have some natural logic to it. . . . . . Which is why he is playing at 11 for the AB’s.🤣🤣🤣



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194 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Rating Plummer as a test player lol soz

Think weve seen enough of McAlister to know we are always going to be wanting a couple of hookers who standout more than him alright.



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123 Go to comments
J
JWH 2 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Highlanders under Jamie Joseph look good with young talent like Pledger, Stanley Soloman, and that young Otago flanker.

123 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

All good, I only realised what you might have been thinking was the topic while replying.

123 Go to comments
P
Poorfour 2 hours ago
Top five Premiership Women’s Rugby transfers for 2025/26

It’s a valid concern but I think it’s a generational thing. A surprisingly high proportion of the current squad broke into International rugby at 19 or 20 - I suspect because they were the first generation to come through a proper pathway so were better equipped to overtake players who’d come up as amateurs.

Those players are now well established in the squad and many of them are young enough to have another RWC cycle in them.



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10 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Yeah I didn’t even want him at 15 in Fosters reign because the team was struggling so much for ball and he’d always just kick it away.

Schmidt found a way to turn that into a strength by making the team a low ruck count strike team, but Razor had the chance to turn it around after Beauden came back from Japan running again but stuffed him/it by making him a 10 again.



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123 Go to comments