Ireland captain Caelan Doris has been passed fit to start Saturday's Guinness Six Nations meeting with France, but Mack Hansen has been ruled out of the crucial meeting at Aviva Stadium (live on RTÉ2, RTÉ Radio 1 and RTÉ Player).
Doris returns among four changes from the side that defeated Wales just under a fortnight ago, and is set to earn his 50th cap .
The major call by interim head coach Simon Easterby sees Jamie Osborne named on the right wing, with Hansen picking up a quad injury in training this week. The versatile Leinster back has only played four times on the wing for his province, most recently in the Investec Champions Cup win against Bath in January.
Calvin Nash, who started when Hansen missed against Scotland due to a minor knock, is believed to have been carrying a rib injury in training.
Bundee Aki, Hugo Keenan and Finlay Bealham also return to the starting team for the visit of Les Bleus.
Jack Conan has recovered from a back injury to take his place on the bench, which has a 6:2 split, Conor Murray and Jack Crowley covering the backline.
Tadhg Furlong isn't included, despite the tighthead prop training fully this week as part of his recovery from calf and hamstring problems, while Rónan Kelleher misses out with a neck injury.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Jamie Osborne, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt)
Replacements: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Thomas Clarkson, James Ryan, Jack Conan, Ryan Baird, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
We need your consent to load this
Read more on rte.ie
rte.ie
