Full-back Niall Morris has been ruled out of the game due to an ankle injury and his place has been taken by Sean Scanlon, who moves into the starting team from the replacements. Scanlon’s elevation sees Conor Cleary called up for bench duty.

Ireland coach Eric Elwood said: “Last week’s match may not have been the prettiest game, but the guys stuck it out and showed great character to get past the Italians in the end.

“We felt that the selection should reflect that level of performance and have gone with an unchanged side, with the exception of Niall’s injury. Hopefully we will have a drier track to go on this week to allow us move the ball a bit more and not get caught up in playing from ruck to ruck.

“France offer a similar challenge this week in the physical stakes as Italy did, but will no doubt have that bit more pace in attack, so again it is a case of meeting them head on and getting a good start to the game.

“I thought our pack played particularly well last week, so another performance of that calibre is required if we are to compete with the French side.”

IRELAND UNDER-20 TEAM AND REPLACEMENTS (v France U-20s, RBS U-20 Six Nations, Stadium Jacques Fouroux, Auch, Friday, February 8, kick-off 6.30pm local time):             

Player                                     Club/Province                                               

15 – Sean Scanlon                      UCC/Munster

14 – David Kearney                    Lansdowne/Leinster

13 – Eoin O’Malley                     Old Belvedere/Leinster

12 – Eamonn Sheridan                Lansdowne/Leinster

11 – Chris Cochrane                   Queens University/Ulster

10 – Martin Dufficy                     Dublin University/Leinster

9 – David Moore                        Blackrock College RFC/Leinster

1 – Paul Karayiannis                   Queen’s University/Ulster

2 – Stephen Douglas                   Ballymena/Ulster

3 – Ben Barclay                          UCD/Leinster

4 – David Nolan                         Galwegians/Connacht

5 – Eoin Sheriff                           Lansdowne/Leinster

6 – Kieran Essex                        UL Bohemians/Munster

7 – Paul Ryan                             Blackrock College RFC/Leinster (capt)

8 – Patrick Mallon                      Lansdowne/Leinster

 Replacements:

16 – Jason Harris-Wright            Greystones/Leinster

17 – Stephen Archer                   UCC/Munster

18 – James Sandford                  Queen’s University/Ulster

19 – Ian Nagle                           UCC/Munster

20 – Kris Greene                         St. Mary’s College/Leinster

21 – Ian Madigan                       Blackrock College RFC/Leinster

22 – Conor Cleary                      Greystones/Leinster

Management

Manager: Phil Orr

Coach: Eric Elwood

Assistant Coach: Dan McFarland

Under-20 Six Nations Fixtures

France U-20s v Ireland U-20s, Friday, February 8, Stadium Jacques Fouroux, Auch, 6.30pm local time

Ireland U-20s v Scotland U-20s, Friday, February 22, Dubarry Park, Athlone, 7.30pm

Ireland U-20s v Wales U-20s, Friday, March 7, Dubarry Park, Athlone, 7.35pm (live RTE TV)

England U-20s v Ireland U-20s, Friday, March 14, Kingsholm, Gloucester, 7.45pm