Andy Farrell has urged Ireland to be courageous when they take on formidable pre-tournament favourites France in a “mouth-watering” Guinness Six Nations curtain-raiser.
The reigning Grand Slam champions are seeking to return to winning ways on Friday evening in Marseille following an agonising 28-24 World Cup quarter-final exit to New Zealand.
Although Les Bleus are without star man Antoine Dupont for this year’s championship, Ireland’s title defence in the post-Johnny Sexton era could not have begun with a tougher fixture.
Head coach Farrell, whose four changes from the loss to the All Blacks on October 14 include starts for Test rookies Joe McCarthy, Calvin Nash and Jack Crowley, wants his players to embrace the challenge at Stade Velodrome.
“We all realise it’s a huge game. It’s mouth-watering, isn’t it?” the Englishman said, according to the Irish Examiner.
“It will be a great game to watch, there’s no doubt about that and the stadium, the atmosphere, it being the first game of the Six Nations after a World Cup, if you can’t get excited about that, you’re in the wrong place.
“For us, it’s just living up to our own expectations, we expect to perform on the big stage and it doesn’t really get any bigger than this one.
“The exciting thing for me is are we brave enough, have we got enough courage to go and do what we said we’re going to do and obviously we’re playing against a world-class side.
“But if you want to be successful, if you want to try to be the best, then you’ve got to beat the best in places like this and the occasion doesn’t get much bigger.
“We’ve got to relish those types of occasions and go after them.”
Farrell has picked 22-year-old Leinster lock McCarthy ahead of experienced duo James Ryan and Iain Henderson, while Munster wing Nash, 26, will also make his Six Nations debut, in place of the injured Mack Hansen.
Meanwhile, Munster number 10 Crowley, 24, will start in the championship for the first time following the retirement of former captain Sexton.
“He’s a confident kid, Jack,” said Farrell, who has selected Leinster’s Ciaran Frawley on the bench as back-up fly-half.
“It’s tough for young kids, especially with responsibilities like in his position but he feels very comfortable in being able to do that.
“How you run a week is pretty important and you’re making sure that the rest of your team-mates feel that you’re in control. He’s obviously learned a lot from Johnny in that regard.
“But the only thing that matters is the performance, isn’t it? Taking that preparation – that’s been good, very good actually, in camp – and transferring it to a performance that we all want to see.”
Centre Robbie Henshaw comes in for Leinster team-mate Garry Ringrose, who has a shoulder issue, in the other alteration to Ireland’s starting XV.
Kante a shock inclusion in France's Euro 2024 squad
N'Golo Kante has been named as a surprise inclusion in France's squad for Euro 2024.
Kante has not played for Les Bleus since 2022, but despite the long exodus from the squad, the Al Ittihad midfielder has been named in head coach Didier Deschamps' 26-man squad for the upcoming tournament in Germany.
The squad is headlined by Kylian Mbappe, who has plied his trade for Paris Saint-Germain since 2017 but looks set to move to Real Madrid in the upcoming window. Mbappe's PSG team-mate Bradley Barcola makes the squad for the first time.
Also making the journey to Germany will be Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and William Saliba, though Bayern Munich's Lucas Hernandez misses out through injury.
Among the notable exclusions are Chelsea's Christopher Nkunku and Crystal Palace's Michael Olise, who both miss out despite recently returning to fitness in the Premier League.
France will play two warm-up friendlies against Luxembourg and then Canada, before they kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Austria on June 17. France will also face the Netherlands and Poland in the group stage as they look to reclaim the European Championships crown they lost to Italy in the 2020 edition.
France squad
Alphonse Areola (West Ham), Mike Maignan (Milan), Brice Samba (Lens); Jonathan Clauss (Marseille), Theo Hernandez (Milan), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), Ferland Mendy (Madrid), Benjamin Pavard (Inter), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich); Eduardo Camavinga (Madrid), Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico), N'Golo Kante (Al Ittihad), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Aurelien Tchouameni (Madrid), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain); Bradley Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain), Olivier Giroud (Milan), Randal Kolo Muani (Paris Saint-Germain), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Marcus Thuram (Inter).
Passion, mentality and drive make 'champion' Mbappe special, says Henry
Kylian Mbappe's passion, mentality and drive are the fundamental factors that make him so special, according to France legend Thierry Henry.
Les Bleus' skipper is heavily linked with a blockbuster move to Real Madrid after it was officially announced last week that he will depart Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this campaign.
Mbappe leaves Parc des Princes as the club's all-time leading scorer, while he has just been named Ligue 1's Player of the Year for a fifth successive season, and is set to top the goalscoring charts for a sixth year running.
Still only 25 years old, he has already played in two World Cup finals - lifting the trophy in 2018 and scoring a hat-trick in the 2022 showpiece as France lost out to Argentina on penalties - and won six domestic titles.
Mbappe has also scored 46 goals in 77 caps for Les Bleus, trailing only Henry (51) and Olivier Giroud (57) on their all-time list, and will look to add the European Championship to his list of honours when he leads his country into the 2024 tournament next month.
Saluting the forward in a new BBC documentary entitled 'Mbappe', Henry said: "The great champions have something in them that I cannot describe.
"When you're a champion, you have to bring something to the table, something extra that is not normal, and that he has. The higher you go, the less normal you are.
"When it comes to this mentality and will, champions do have something that is a bit different to others.
"What I can see in this guy is passion, the will and the love of the game. If you do what needs to be done with those tools, then you're unstoppable.
"What he has achieved already, some people didn't do that in their careers, and they were outstanding players."
There are many similarities between Henry and Mbappe, most notably their styles of play with explosive attacking flair and electric speed. Both grew up in the Paris suburbs, started their senior careers at Monaco and went on to win the World Cup with France.
And the 46-year-old offered a closer insight into what makes the PSG forward on another level to his contemporaries.
"What I see is the same will of wanting to succeed," he analysed. "I don't care about anything else if you don't have that will, that drive - and Kylian has that in abundance. What makes him so special for me is easy; he thinks.
"People always talk about his speed. I know a lot of players that are fast, but can they play football at that level? No. Can they score? Can they run as fast as he does with the ball?
"Can you still see the game when you're running at full speed? You need to have a lot of tools in order to do that, and he's also clever.
"Of course, he has to work on stuff, he's still young and people forget that. He's not yet a finished article. Are you ever a finished article, whether it's in life or football?"
Afridi lauds 'world class' Babar and Rizwan as Pakistan win Ireland series
Shaheen Afridi lauded Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as "world class" after the pair guided Pakistan to a T20I series victory over Ireland on Tuesday.
Babar's side were defeated in the first meeting with Ireland last week but responded with two convincing chases to secure a 2-1 triumph.
Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker's 73 helped his side to set a target of 179 in the winner-takes-all-decider, but Pakistan had little trouble in easing to a six-wicket victory with 18 balls to spare.
Rizwan, who managed an unbeaten 75 in the second meeting, crafted a well-made 56, while Babar carried Pakistan to within touching distance after his 42-ball 75.
Big-hitter Azam Khan blasted 18 off just six deliveries to see the visitors over the line, though Afridi was quick to credit the work of the two experienced Pakistan campaigners.
"For us, before the World Cup, it's important to have these games to ready ourselves and there are a few areas to improve," said Afridi, who impressed with 3-14 in the first innings.
"They're both world-class players [Babar and Rizwan]; they know how to play their role and they have done really well on this pitch."
Babar bludgeoned four of his five sixes off Ben White's bowling in the 14th over, while sharing 139 runs with the in-form Rizwan for the second wicket.
"We had good communication in the middle because we have played a lot of cricket together; we were trying to play on our strengths and the aim was to match with the run rate," Babar added.
"Lots of positives for us to take and we were able to execute our plans.
"We have a big tournament coming up and this is good practice; we are now looking forward to the England series."
Mark Adair was the only Ireland bowler to impress with his economical 3-28, though Tucker was still satisfied with his side's efforts.
"It was brilliant and a great privilege to captain," Tucker said at the post-match presentation. "It would have been nice to start with a win.
"We set up a platform nicely but unfortunately, we couldn't finish well. We gave everyone a go with the ball. Credit to the lads, they bowled well in tough conditions.
"Maybe it was a bit disappointing with the result but we had positives from the series."
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