MY ACCOUNT
Johnny Sexton will miss Ireland’s Six Nations clash with France on Saturday due to a hamstring problem.
Ireland captain Sexton surpassed 500 points in the competition last week, as he helped Andy Farrell’s team to a 29-7 defeat of reigning champions Wales in Dublin.
However, the 36-year-old will not feature in Paris after sustaining an injury in training on Wednesday, and James Ryan will captain Ireland instead.
Joey Carbery will replace Sexton in Farrell’s line-up, which was announced on Thursday. It is the only change Ireland have made.
Iain Henderson, Robbie Henshaw and Jack Carty have come into the squad and will be on the bench, with Ryan Baird and James Hume dropping out.
France, meanwhile, have made two alterations to their side, with Francois Cros and Yoram Moefana replacing Dylan Cretin and Jonathan Danty respectively.
Antoine Dupont was one of 11 players to assist a try across the opening weekend and now has 12 assists to his name in the Six Nations, the most of any France player.
The scrum-half will again look to dictate the play as Les Bleus aim to win their opening two games in an edition of the Six Nations for the third year in a row, this after managing it just twice in their previous eight campaigns in the Championship.
This will be the 101st meeting between the nations, with France winning 58 times and Ireland triumphing on 35 occasions.
Les Bleus have the edge in the Six Nations, winning half of their 22 encounters, including the two most recent games.
They thrashed Italy 37-10 in their opening fixture to go top of the standings after round one.
Ireland team: Hugo Keenan, Andrew Conway, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Joey Carbery, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Jack Carty, Robbie Henshaw.
France team: Melvyn Jaminet, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Yoram Moefana, Gabin Villiere, Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont; Gregory Alldritt, Anthony Jelonch, Francois Cros, Paul Willemse, Cameron Woki, Uini Atonio, Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille.
Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Demba Bamba, Romain Taofifenua, Thibaud Flament, Dylan Cretin, Maxime Lucu, Thomas Ramos.
