Overview
- Kick-off is 20:10 GMT on Thursday 5 February at the Stade de France, with live coverage on ITV1/ITVX in the UK, Virgin Media One/Play in Ireland and France 2/FranceTV in France.
- Antoine Dupont starts at scrum-half and captains France in his first Test since last year’s knee injury, with Matthieu Jalibert at fly-half.
- Bundee Aki is suspended and injuries sideline key Ireland starters including Tadhg Furlong, Andrew Porter and Hugo Keenan, prompting starts for Jeremy Loughman and Thomas Clarkson up front.
- Official team sheets confirm France’s back three of Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Théo Attissogbe flanking Thomas Ramos, while Ireland hand Six Nations first starts to Jeremy Loughman and Cian Prendergast as Caelan Doris leads.
- The fixture introduces a new Solidarity Trophy between the nations, and the Thursday slot was arranged to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan.