The new France is on display again as Galthié hits the afterburners with a selection of huge mercurial magic in the backs, and only a slightly smaller amount in the forwards but with added anger from Le Roux and Willemse.
Gaël Fickou is moved to the wing as Arthur Vincent takes his place in the centre
It is also worth noting that there is no out-half on the bench, meaning should something happen to Ntamack, a scrum-half or fullback will be playing at pivot. You can’t say it’s not something to look forward to of a lockdown Saturday night.
For Ireland, Robbie Henshaw replaces Gary Ringrose and his broken jaw in the only change from last week’s win. This means Andy Farrell has retained Hugo Keenan after his impressive debut vs Italy – so far so good – but due to this Stockdale remains an international fullback for one more week at least. This could be something the big man comes to regret.
France: 15. Anthony Bouthier, 14. Vincent Rattez, 13. Virimi Vakatawa, 12. Arthur Vincent, 11. Gaël Fickou, 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Antoine Dupont; 1. Cyril Baille, 2. Julien Marchand, 3. Mohamed Haouas, 4. Bernard Le Roux, 5. Paul Willemse, 6. François Cros, 7. Charles Ollivon (c), 8. Gregory Alldritt
Replacements: 16. Camille Chat, 17. Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18. Demba Bamba, 19. Romain Taofifenua, 20. Dylan Cretin, 21. Baptiste Serin, 22. Arthur Retiere, 23. Thomas Ramos
Ireland: 15. Jacob Stockdale, 14. Andrew Conway, 13. Robbie Henshaw, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. Hugo Keenan, 10. Jonathan Sexton (c), 9. Conor Murray; 1. Cian Healy, 2. Rob Herring, 3. Andrew Porter, 4. Tadhg Beirne, 5. James Ryan, 6. Caelan Doris, 7. Will Connors, 8. CJ Stander
Replacements: 16. Dave Heffernan, 17. Ed Byrne, 18. Finlay Bealham, 19. Ultan Dillane, 20. Peter O’Mahony, 21. Jamison Gibson-Park, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Chris Farrell