INTERNATIONAL TEST RUGBY: Ireland Face France in Bordeaux

13.08.2011
Ireland v France in Bordeaux (World Cup Warm-up)

Venue: Stade Chaban Delmas

Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)

Preview
Ireland plays its second 2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up rugby test whilst France begin its preparations Saturday. These two teams clash again next weekend in what will be their final kick out before their respective squads are announced for the World Cup Finals.

Irish coach Declan kidney has made a number of changes from the side that lost 6-10 to Scotland last weekend. The entire front row is new, Ryan moves to flanker, O’Brien moves into the other flank, the half backs are replaced, with veteran O’Gara and Reddan moving in and still no sign of Brian O’Driscoll. He is due to play next weekend in the return games against France in Dublin. Leo Cullen retains the captaincy in his place.

French coach Marc Lievremont will field a largely new side in the return test match next weekend. "We want to have consistency and have two good matches by lining up two homogenous groups," explained Lièvremont. "It's a mix of youth and experience in every row."

Raphaël Lakafia, whose father is of New Caledonian heritage, will make his test debut at number eight.

Last Five Encounters
13.02.2011 France 25-22 in Dublin (6 Nations)
13.02.2010 France 33-10 in Paris (6 Nations)
07.02.2009 Ireland 31-20 in Dublin (6 Nations)
09.02.2008 France 26-21 in Paris (6 Nations)
21.09.2007 France 25-3 in Paris (World Cup, Pool D)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Ireland 5th, France 9th
Europe Table-Ireland 2nd, France 5th

IRB Ranking Points
France 82.06, Ireland 81.29

Prediction: Ireland by 4 points.

Teams

Ireland
15 Robert Kearney
14 Andrew Trimble
13 Keith Earls
12 Patrick Wallace
11 Luke Fitzgerald
10 Ronan O'Gara
9 Eoin Reddan
8 Denis Leamy
7 Sean O'Brien
6 Donncha Ryan
5 Leo Cullen, Capt.
4 Donncha O'Callaghan
3 Michael Ross
2 Rory Best
1 Cian Healy.
Replacements
16 Jeremy Flannery
17 Anthony Buckley
18 Paul O'Connell
19 James Heaslip
20 Conor Murray
20 Fergus McFadden
22 Felix Jones.
Head Coach: Declan Kidney

France
15 Damien Traille
14 Vincent Clerc
13 David Marty
12 Maxime Mermoz
11 Alexis Palisson
10 François Trinh-Duc
9 Dimitri Yachvili
8 Raphaël Lakafia
7 Imanol Harinordoquy
6 Thierry Dusautoir, Capt. 
5 Romian Millo-Chluski
4 Julien Pierre
3 Luc Ducalcon
2 Dimitri Szarzewski
1 Sylvain Marconnet
Replacements:
16 Guilhem Guirado
17 Jean-Baptiste Poux
18 Lionel Nallet
19 Julien Bonnaire
20 Morgan Parra
21 David Skrela
22 Maxime Médard
23 Fabien Barcella
Head Coach: Marc Lievremont