Ireland: Johnny Sexton ruled out of Six Nations clash with France as Joey Carbery starts

Colin Newboult

Ireland's Jonathan Sexton in action during the Six Nations match at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Picture date: Saturday February 5, 2022.

Andy Farrell has announced his Ireland squad that will travel to Paris to take on France, with Johnny Sexton ruled out due to a hamstring injury.

Ireland captain Sexton sustained the injury in training on Wednesday, which means Joey Carbery starts at fly-half and is partnered by Jamison Gibson-Park at half-back. The centre partnership of Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose continues in midfield.

The back three is made up of Hugo Keenan at full-back, with Mack Hansen and Andrew Conway on the wings.

James Ryan takes over the captaincy

James Ryan will captain the side and is joined at lock by Tadhg Beirne. The back-row sees Caelan Doris at six, Josh van der Flier at seven and Jack Conan at number eight with Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong making up the front-row.

Iain Henderson, Robbie Henshaw and Jack Carty are added to the replacements for the France clash joining Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray.

British and Irish Lions Henderson and Henshaw return to the Irish bench following injuries in the only other changes from last weekend’s bonus-point win over Wales in Dublin.

Leinster second-row Ryan Baird and Ulster centre James Hume drop out of the matchday squad.

Carbery impressed as understudy in the autumn after Sexton was injured in the 29-20 win over New Zealand.

The 26-year-old – who suffered a fractured elbow in December – came off the bench to kick three crucial penalties against the All Blacks, before producing a man-of-the-match performance against Argentina a week later.

Ulster captain Henderson and Leinster centre Henshaw have each been restricted to limited game time this season.

Lock Henderson has not played since sustaining an ankle injury in his province’s Champions Cup win over Northampton on December 17 – his only outing since Ireland beat the Kiwis in November.

Henshaw has made just four appearances this season and missed some of his country’s pre-tournament training camp in Portugal due to a groin issue.

Despite the 2022 Six Nations being only one round old, this weekend’s clash in the French capital has already been billed as a potential title decider.

Pre-tournament favourites France lead the early standings ahead of Ireland after overcoming a slow start to defeat Italy 37-10 on Sunday.

Munster’s Beirne seemed the man most at risk following Henderson’s return to fitness. He remains the only non-Leinster player in Farrell’s pack, partnering stand-in captain Ryan in the second-row.

Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan (c), 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Robbie Henshaw

Date: Saturday, February 12
Venue: Stade de France
Kick-off: 17:45 local (16:45 GMT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

READ MORE: Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong ready to deliver at scrum time

 

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France v Ireland big game preview

Shane Byrne and George Chuter join James While to preview the big Six Nations meeting in Paris.