KEY BATTLES: France vs Ireland

The second Six Nations clash of 2018 will see a new look France side face off against a settled Irish side at the Stade de France Stadium on Saturday.

France will look to win their first match in over 321 days and will need to win some of these key battles in order to do so.

The Front Row

Front row enthusiasts will be licking their lips at the thought of Cian Healy, Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong colliding with Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado and Rabah Slimani. 

We all know the old cliche that the battle is won up front and neither side will want to give an edge here. 

Both sides are relatively strong on the bench and France looking to unleash youngster Dany Priso.

The battle for front row dominance for France as they will want to ease the pressure on their new flyhalf.

Prediction: This battle could go either way but we are tipping Ireland to win this battle.

Back row

Ireland have a powerful back row with Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier and CJ Stander, while France has a busy back row with Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara and Kevin Gourdon. 

Both sets of players will have a never say die approach to their game which makes this one of the most intriguing battles.

All 6 of the players are solid in all phases of the game.

Prediction: With two British and Irish Lions in their back row Ireland should take this one. 

The Halfbacks

It's hard not mention the halfbacks in the fixture with Ireland boasting the British and Irish pairing of Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton, while France will be fielding their 16th scrumhalf/flyhalf combination, in 30 tests, with Maxime Machenaud and Matthieu Jalibert. 

Sexton and Murray will manage the game, while Machenaud and Jalibert will look to disrupt them as much as possible. 

Prediction: Ireland has one of the best halfback pairings in World rugby and they will show that on Saturday and should win this battle. 

Outside backs

The performances of the outside backs will depend on the ability of the centres to get them in space. 

Ireland head into the match with the experience of Keith Earls and Rob Kearney as well as the inform Jacob Stockdale. 

France, on the other hand, have debutant Geoffrey Palis combining with the bulldozing Virimi Vakatawa and the speedy Teddy Thomas

Prediction: The power and speed of the French outside backs gives them the slight edge in this area of the game.