Bernard Jackman: Joe McCarthy should start for Ireland v France

Bernard Jackman believes Joe McCarthy has earned his shot in the starting Ireland team for the Guinness Six Nations opener away to France next week.

The Leinster second row has been one of the province's standout performers since this season, earning high-praise for his aggressive style of play, and capped off his good recent form with a player of the match display in Saturday's Investec Champions Cup win away to the Leicester Tigers.

The 22-year-old has won five Ireland caps since his debut against Australia November in 2022, and played twice during the World Cup campaign.

But after leapfrogging Ross Molony and Jason Jenkins to become a first choice lock for Leo Cullen's side, it's expected he will have a larger role for Ireland in their Six Nations Grand Slam defence, which gets under way against France in Marseille on Friday 2 February.

And with the second row standing tall at 6ft 6in and weighing 119kg, Jackman believes his physicality will be needed against a large French pack

"I think he starts against France, purely looking at what France can do," the former Ireland hooker told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.

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"[Emmanuel] Meafou is out, Paul Willemse is coming back in and Atonio is doing a u-turn on retirement. I'm looking at the French pack, the power that they can bring and I think we need to get him in there to try counteract that.

"Maybe he needs to play every game, so we can start enforcing our power and strength on others.

"Certainly for France, he needs to start. He's bang on form