RBS Six Nations Championship
Venue: Aviva Stadium Date: Sunday, 13 February 2011 Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Coverage: Watch on BBC One, BBC HD channel, Red Button and BBC Sport website; full commentary on BBC 5 live, updates on local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles

Two vastly different starts in the opening weekend of the Six Nations has left much to ponder. Ireland were as sloppy, insipid and lacking punch in their narrow win over Italy as the French were full of invention and verve in a pulsating victory over Scotland.

The Irish media came down hard on their team, but coach Declan Kidney has eschewed panic, and only one change shows his loyalty to an out-of-sorts side. Behind closed doors, however, concern must be growing given that it is a World Cup year. The pressure is now on for a big performance.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney has opted to make just one change to his team to play France

France coach Marc Lievremont must been have nervous ahead of the Scotland game, but his team blew away the cobwebs of their autumn of discontent. They delivered a performance that sent out a message that they have no intention of giving up the Six Nations trophy without a fight.

Sunday's match is expected to be decided in the scrum, with the respective front threes set to play the leading role. Ireland's Cian Healy, Rory Best and Mike Ross were given a tough afternoon by Italy's pitbull-like props. But if they think that was bad, it may prove to be a walk in the park compared with facing the French trio of Thomas Domingo, William Servat and Nicolas Mas.

Kidney has spent the build-up to this match urging his charges to rediscover the courage to have a go at teams after they looked so lifeless against Italy. He fears that if they play like that again and stand off the French they will be picked off at will.

Certainly the Gallic flair served up by France against Scotland was a joy to watch, but that said, it was a far from error-free performance as their 25 missed tackles testify to. If Ireland can get quick ball to their backs and take the game to the French like they did in their Grand Slam winning year of 2009, the first Six Nations game at the Aviva Stadium could be one to saviour.

If they don't, calls for a re-jig of Ireland's team will get louder with the World Cup just seven months away. They have stagnated somewhat since the Grand Slam and the last time they put in a performance to get the pulses racing was against Wales in last year's Six Nations.

The popular theory is that the national team's form is mirroring that of Munster's at club level, whose reliance on aging and out-of-form stars has seen them endure a poor season. While Kidney may not need to take an axe to his squad, defeat on Sunday will surely push him into freshening up his XV, while he waits for key players to return from injury.

Head-to-head

• France have won eight of the last nine meetings between the sides including victories at the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. Ireland's solitary win was at the start of their 2009 Grand Slam season.

• This will be the 87th meeting between the sides. France have won 52, Ireland 29, with five draws.

• Two players from either squad have scored a hat-trick of tries in this fixture. Brian O'Driscoll in 2000 and France's Vincent Clerc in 2007.

Ireland

• Ireland have lost a total of only seven matches in the last five Six Nations Championships since 2006.

• Their starting line-up have scored a total of 87 Test tries, Brian O'Driscoll accounts for 42 of those.

• O'Driscoll needs one try to draw level with Scotland's Ian Smith (24 tries) as the highest try scorer in Five/Six Nations history.

• Ronan O'Gara is the leading points scorer in Six Nations history with 530 points. He stands two points behind England's Jonny Wilkinson in the Five/Six Nations overall records (532 points to 530).

France

• France have only failed to score a try once in their last 37 meetings with Ireland (in 2003).

• France have won the Six Nations Championship five times: 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2010. They did the Grand Slam in 2002, 2004 and 2010.

• The French have either finished first or third in the last five Six Nations Championships.

Ireland: 15-Luke Fitzgerald, 14-Fergus McFadden, 13-Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12-Gordon D'Arcy, 11-Keith Earls, 10-Jonathan Sexton, 9-Tomas O'Leary; 1-Cian Healy, 2-Rory Best, 3-Mike Ross, 4-Donncha O'Callaghan, 5-Paul O'Connell, 6-Sean O'Brien, 7-David Wallace, 8-Jamie Heaslip

Replacements: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-Tom Court, 18-Leo Cullen, 19-Denis Leamy, 20-Eoin Reddan, 21-Ronan O'Gara, 22-Paddy Wallace.

France: 15-Clement Poitrenaud 14-Yoann Huget, 13-Aurelien Rougerie, 12-Damien Traille, 11-Maxime Medard, 10-Francois Thrinh-Duc, 9-Morgan Parra, 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Julien Bonnaire, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Lionel Nallet, 4-Julien Pierre, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-William Servat, 1-Thomas Domingo.

Replacements: 16-Guilhem Guirado, 17-Sylvain Marconnet, 18-Jerome Thion, 19-Sebastien Chabal, 20-Dimitri Yachvili, 21-Vincent Clerc, 22-Yannick Jauzion.

Referee: Dave Pearson (ENG)

Touch judges: Wayne Barnes (ENG) & David Changleng (SCO)

TV: Geoff Warren (ENG)

IMANOL HARINORDOQUY (Fra) Number eight, age 30 Grand Slam would see him equal record of four (Magne, Pelou, Cove-Smith) Nominated for Six Nations Player of the Tournament in 2010 Only northern hemisphere player on IRB Player of the Year shortlist

JAMIE HEASLIP (Ireland) Number eight, age 27 Returns from ankle injury to take his favoured number eight position Was Ireland's outstanding player in the autumn internationals Scored a try against France in 2009

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