O2 MatchDay Live: Ireland v France
Ireland will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they host France at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon. You can keep up-to-date with the crunch encounter via our O2 MatchDay Live service right here on IrishRugby.ie.
This afternoon’s match between Ireland and France will be the 84th time the two sides have met in the Championship. Last season’s meeting between the two sides finished in a 17-17 draw at the Stade de France.
France have dominated the home side in terms of victories, having won 50 out of those 83 Tests. Ireland in response have won 27 and there has been six draws. If France win this weekend it will be their 180th win in Championship history.
Ireland have scored 101 tries and 136 penalty goals in those clashes, compared to France’s 175 tries and 109 penalty goals.
In the last ten years, Ireland have only managed to beat France twice, those matches being a 15-12 win in 2003 and a 30-21 win in 2009.
Cian Healy, Rory Best and Mike Ross will combine in the Irish front row for the 20th time today, equalling Shane Byrne, John Hayes and Reggie Corrigan’s record.
As well as prop Healy returning from suspension, centre Luke Marshall and out-half Paddy Jackson will be making their home debuts.
Winger Fergus McFadden is set for his first start in green since the 2012 summer tour to New Zealand, while his Leinster colleague Ian Madigan and Munster’s Stephen Archer are standing by to win their first Test caps off the bench.
Team captain Jamie Heaslip makes his 53rd start for Ireland at number 8 today, equalling the record set by Anthony Foley as the most capped starting number 8 for Ireland.
It will be Heaslip’s 59th Test cap in total, having won 55 with Ireland and three with the British & Irish Lions in South Africa four years ago.
We will have live text commentary direct from the Aviva Stadium, so plug in your laptop or turn on the PC and enjoy a flavour of the game live on IrishRugby.ie.
There will be full live text and score updates throughout the coverage, with our pre-match build-up getting underway at 4.30pm.
You can watch live TV coverage of the match on RTÉ Two and BBC One. Michael Corcoran will also be providing live commentary of the game on RTÉ Radio 1 (FM, DAB, LW 252 and RTÉ.ie), with their coverage beginning shortly before kick-off.
You can feel part of the action on IrishRugby.ie with MatchDay Live – today’s mouth-watering Irish-Gallic clash kicks off at 5pm.
Look out for the MatchDay Live button in the Ireland section or simply click on the link below:
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