Zebo out McFadden in for wounded Irish

The fly-half is key to Ireland’s bid for a third successive Six Nations title but has been troubled by a series of concussions that have cast doubt over his career.

Captain Rory Best will lead the team out against Guy Novès’ side at the Stade de France on Saturday.

Sean O’Brien should return to Ireland’s team for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with France.

“We possibly should have come away with the win, but I won’t take anything away from Ireland and maybe the draw was a fair reflection”.

Best tipped Sexton to spearhead Ireland’s approach again this weekend.

Ireland were perhaps the better of the two teams but France will be, relatively, happier.

If they lose that one, it will nearly certainly knock them out of contention, or at the very least, make it extremely hard for them to mount a real challenge. “It was probably what they set out to do but they’ll reflect on that and maybe they tipped the scale too far towards play-at-all-costs and maybe we’ll see a little bit more of a structure from them”.

French fans should expect difficulties throughout this tournament, in what is essentially a transition period.

“We’ve had a fantastic record here under Joe Schmidt”, Best added, speaking of Ireland’s head coach.

Cristian Stoica of Italy celebrates victory during the Rugby World Cup Pool D match between Italy and Canada at Canberra Stadium October 21, 2003 in Canberra, Australia. Because he must be so flexible, he is reluctant to consider most players as either nailed-on starters or reserves.

The hulking pair of Uini Atonio and Jefferson Poirot have taken the places of Rabah Slimani and Eddy Ben-Arous, who both drop to the bench. “In my mind there’s no such thing as a reserve in today’s rugby”.

“We’ve prepared for this match by getting it into our heads that we have to show more power”.

“France have always produced brilliant and naturally gifted rugby players but I think we’ve closed that gap”.

As for England, they put in a strong, if hardly vintage, showing against Scotland.

“We’ve worked hard on our scrum in the last 12 months or so, and I thought our scrummaging was outstanding”. He is likely to miss the rest of the Six Nations after tearing his right hamstring shortly after left winger Virimi Vakatawa’s early debut try against Italy.

Munster flyer Zebo’s failure to beat his knee problem hands Leinster wing Dave Kearney a starting berth, with his provincial colleague McFadden drafted onto the bench.