Six Nations news: Andy Farrell makes bold decisions in his Ireland team to face France

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has left James Lowe out of his team in a series of surprise omissions for Thursday’s Six Nations opener against France.

Since becoming eligible for Ireland in 2020, Lowe has been a mainstay on the wing; however, Farrell has decided to drop him for the match against Les Bleus.

In his place, Jacob Stockdale starts at 11 despite suggestions he would have taken the full-back role.

Instead, Leinster‘s Jamie Osbourne takes on the 15.

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Furlong misses out

Elsewhere, Jeremy Loughman takes on the role of loose-head largely thanks to Ireland’s ongoing front row crisis – Loughman will be making his first international start since 2020.

Tadhg Furlong has also missed out, but Farrell has stated this is to enable him to come back once fully fit against Italy next week.

Tadhg Byrne and Joe McCarthy have linked up in the second row, meaning another Irish regular, James Ryan, is left as one of six forwards on the bench.

Attissogbe gets the nod

Fabien Galthier has started Théo Attissogbe at 14, answering the question of who will fill the Damien Penaud spot.

Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert start as expected with Thomas Ramos at 15.

Anthony Jelonch starts at 8 with Dorian Aldegheri and Jean-Baptiste Gros as the prop pairing following the sudden retirement of Uni Antonio.

The remainder of the forwards pack is far more similar to recent years, as Charles Ollivon and Mickael Guillard fill the second row, followed by Francois Gros and Oscar Jegou.

Prop crisis

Certainly, from an Irish perspective, the scrum will be the big issue on Thursday. England‘s prop ‘crisis’ has been so often discussed, but if anything, it’s the Irish who are really feeling the squeeze.

An untested pairing will certainly find it tough against a typically strong French pack.

It will also be interesting to see how Stockdale shows, filling the previously held Lowe role.

The loss of Lowe’s physicality could provide the French runners, such as Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos to find gaps in the wide channels.

Teams

France: Ramos; Attissogbe, Depoortere, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Jalibert, Dupont (capt); Gros, Marchand, Aldegheri, Ollivon, Guillard, Cros, Jegou, Jelonch.

Replacements: Mauvaka, Neti, Montagne, Auradou, Meafou, Nouchi, Serin, Gourgues.

Ireland: Osborne; O’Brien, Ringrose, McCloskey, Stockdale; S Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Loughman, Sheehan, Clarkson, McCarthy, Beirne, C Prendergast, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).

Replacements: Kelleher, Milne, Bealham, Ryan, Conan, Timoney, Casey, Crowley.

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