Combined XV: Ireland v France
- 1904
France has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence following their win over Scotland but face a different beast entirely when they head to the Aviva on Sunday to face Ireland.
Ireland have welcomed back a number of experienced heads from injuries and rests and will face an unchanged French side.
Here is our combined XV from the two sides:
Front Row: Cian Healy, Guilhem Guirado, Tadgh Furlong
Two Irish props pack down in the front row with the French captain who beats Rory Best to the no.2 jersey. Guirado's incredible workrate gives him the edge over the Irish captain while the battle on the loosehead side of the scrum was close but Healy gets the nod.
Bamba may provide Furlong with some competition later on in his career but the Irishman is one of the best, if not the best, in the business.
Second Row: Iain Henderson and James Ryan
Felix Lambey has certainly impressed, even when France haven't, but the young Frenchman's efforts aren't enough to stop Ireland from claiming both second row slots.
Henderson is returning from injury but when he hits form he is up there with the best locks in Europe while James Ryan continues to build on his incredible start to his career.
Back Row: Peter O'Mahony, Arthur Iturria, Louis Picamoles
Peter O'Mahony is easily one of the best blindside flankers in the game and strolls into the side while the other two back row positions are hotly contested and almost impossible to pick.
The two Frenchman get the nod with Stander and van der Flier missing out. Iturria has cemented his place on the side of the scrum for France since making the move from the second row while Picamoles just edges Stander for the 8 jersey.
Halfbacks: Antoine Dupont, Jonathan Sexton
Youth vs. Experience with a youngster winning the one jersey and the veteran winning the other. It's almost incompressible that Conor Murray would be left out of a combined team like this before he was injured but the Irishman has looked slightly off the pace while Dupont has been simply sensational!
Sexton is another Irishman who strolls into the side with Romain Ntamack starting just his second test at flyhalf, which some suggest is not even his best position.
Midfield: Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose
Aki and Ringrose make up an all Irish midfield with Fickou and Bastareaud missing out. Aki has started to make the #12 test jersey his own in recent times while Ringrose has shown his quality when fit.
Fickou and Bastareaud put in fine performances for France last time out but it was not enough to edge out the Irish pair.
Outside Backs: Jacob Stockdale, Keith Earls and Rob Kearney
The French outside backs certainly have some promise in Thomas Ramos and Damian Penaud but the settled trio of Stockdale, Earls and Ramos are too strong to see any Frenchman feature in our back three.
