Ireland Team To Face France Named

The Ireland coaching team have named the matchday Squad to take on France at a packed Aviva Stadium on Saturday in the second round of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship (2.15pm).

Munster’s Tadhg Beirne, Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony start the clash with Craig Casey and Dave Kilcoyne among the replacements. Kilcoyne, who has played 213 games for Munster, will make his 50th Ireland appearance in the clash having made his debut against South Africa in November 2012.

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray will line out for Ireland at half-back with Stuart McCloskey and Garry Ringrose continuing their partnership in midfield. The back three of Hugo Keenan at fullback and Mack Hansen and James Lowe on the wings is unchanged from Round 1 of the Championship.

Andrew Porter and Finlay Bealham will pack down either side of Rob Herring with Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan adding ballast from the second row. Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Peter O’Mahony continue as the backrow unit.

The replacements include Ronan Kelleher, Dave Kilcoyne, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson, Jack Conan, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne and Bundee Aki.

Along with Kilcoyne, Porter and Ryan are set to earn their 50th caps for Ireland against France at the weekend. The duo made their international debuts against the USA in New Jersey in June 2017.

The Ireland v France match will be broadcast live on RTÉ and ITV television and on RTE and BBC NI radio.

Ireland team to play France

15 Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 26 caps

14 Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians) 10 caps

13 Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 48 caps

12 Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 10 caps

11 James Lowe (Leinster) 16 caps

10 Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 110 caps (c)

9 Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 101 caps

1 Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 49 caps

2 Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 32 caps

3 Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 28 caps

4 Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 37 caps

5 James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 49 caps

6 Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 90 caps

7 Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 46 caps

8 Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 24 caps

Replacements

16 Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 18 caps

17 Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 49 caps

18 Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 5 caps

19 Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 69 caps

20 Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 34 caps

21 Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 8 caps

22 Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 15 caps

23 Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 42 caps

2023 Guinness Six Nations Fixtures & Results

Wales 10 IRELAND 34

Principality Stadium, Saturday 4th February 2023

IRELAND v France

Saturday 11th February 2023, KO 14:15 (IST)

RTE TV / ITV / RTE Radio / BBC Radio

Italy v IRELAND

Saturday 25th February 2023, KO 14:15 (IST)

RTE TV / ITV / RTE Radio / BBC Radio

Scotland v IRELAND

Sunday 12th March 2023, KO 15:00 (IST)

RTE TV / BBC / RTE Radio / BBC Radio

IRELAND v England

Saturday 18th March 2023, KO 17:00 (IST)

VIRGIN / ITV / RTE Radio / BBC Radio