Kidney rolls the dice
Ireland coach Declan Kidney has retained Paddy Jackson at flyhalf and named two uncapped players on the bench for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with France at the Aviva Stadium.
An opening had been left in the match 23 for the starting and replacement flyhalf positions due to Jackson suffering from a tight hamstring, but he came through both kicking and training sessions as expected and will start on Saturday.
Ian Madigan earns his first call-up to an international matchday squad as he is named among the replacements.
The replacement tighthead slot has also been confirmed with uncapped Munster prop Stephen Archer named on the bench.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (captain), 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.
Date: Saturday, March 9
Venue: Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Kick-off: 17.00 (17.00 GMT)
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Greg Garner (England)
TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)