Mixture of hardship and grace leads Kidney to just one change

He's back! The country's most pre-eminent back-row Jamie Heaslip will once again fill Ireland's number eight jersey when Lansdowne Road's Aviva Stadium hosts France in it's first Six Nations match.

Heaslip missed out on Ireland's opening night jitters, a 13 -11 win over Italy in Rome, but has now recovered from his ankle injury in time to face the grand slam holders.

The Leinster stars inclusion means Denis Leamy is forced onto the bench as the island's form forward, Sean O'Brien is switched to blindside flanker.

It was hoped that Ulster trio Stephen Ferris, Andrew Trimble and Tommy Bowe (now of Ospreys) could make a return from injury but it seems their next outing will be the trip to Edinburgh in over two weeks' time.

If there is any surprise in the selection it is the retention of Tomas O'Leary at scrum half. The Munster man has struggled to find form this season, often finding himself below Peter Stringer in the provincial pecking order.

Eoin Reddan will hope to make as strong an impact off the bench as he did in Rome when whipping the ball to Ronan O'Gara to land the decisive drop goal.

If there was one major positive to take from that game, it was the absence of injuries. We have become used to the sight of bodies being carried from the field as Ireland slog out another win over Italy.

This time around, it is hoped that the spate of injuries have already hit before the tournament and Heaslip is the first of a trickle of stars returning to the fold.

It is this mixture of hardship and grace that has led, head coach, Declan Kidney to name just one change.

Ominously, France too have made only one enforced change, and although Damien Traille is not the force he once was at inside centre, it would be difficult to argue that the team is weaker than last week.

Maxime Mermoz dislocated his shoulder in the win over Scotland, opening the door for Clement Poitrenaud to reclaim his fullback jersey as Traille is moved into the three quarter line.

Perhaps the most unsettling aspect for Irish fans accustomed to heartbreak at the hands of the French is the name 'Vincent Clerc' which now appears on the replacements bench.

The Toulouse wing knows how to spoil a party when we introduce rugby to a new stadium, having scored the last gasp winning try the first time Croke Park was opened to the oval ball game.

Later that same year, he also hammered the nails in our 2007 World Cup coffin, touching down twice in the 25-3 defeat in Paris.

Though Marc LIeveremont has selected an impressive back three, Clerc is sure to play at least a quarter of the game. He is the only pacey option on a bench also containing Jannick Jauzion, Dimitri Yachvili and France's most overrated enigma, Sebastian Chebal.

Up front, France are arguably at their most formidable, particularly when Irish scrums struggle to contend with teams like Australia, Wales and Scotland.

However, the sight of Mike Ross with a look of raw aggressive determination when defending his line in the second half against the Azzuri scrum is cause for optimism, as is the Clontarf man's Heineken Cup form.

In that competition he has already come head to head with Thomas Domingo when Leinster met Clermont Auvergne and did more than hold his own.

Ireland: L Fitzgerald (Leinster); F McFadden (Leinster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), G D'Arcy (Leinster), K Earls (Munster); J Sexton (Leinster), T O'Leary (Leinster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Leinster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), P O'Connell (Munster), S O'Brien (Leinster), D Wallace (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster).

Replacements: S Cronin (Connacht), T Court (Ulster), L Cullen (Leinster), D Leamy (Munster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O'Gara (Munster), P Wallace (Ulster). 

France: C Poitrenaud (Toulouse); Y Huget (Bayonne), A Rougerie (Clermont Auvergne), D Traille (Biarritz), M Medard (Toulouse); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), M Parra (Clermont Auvergne); T Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), W Servat (Toulouse), N Mas (Perpignan), J Pierre (Clermont Auvergne), L Nallet (Racing Metro), T Dusautoir (Toulouse, captain), J Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz). 

Replacements: G Guirado (Perpignan), L Ducalcon (Castres), J Thion (Biarritz), S Chabal (Racing Metro), D Yachvili (Biarritz), V Clerc (Toulouse), Y Jauzion (Toulouse).