Fullback Maxime Medard will miss France's Six Nations match against Ireland at the Stade de France on Sunday, due to the knee injury he sustained in the 23-17 win over Scotland at the weekend.

Medard, who scored what turned out to be the winning try on the hour mark in Edinburgh on Sunday, will be replaced by Toulouse teammate Clement Poitrenaud, who won the last of his 44 caps in the 17-9 Six Nations loss to England last year.

The rest of the French squad is unchanged for the Irish game, which was originally scheduled for February 11, but postponed minutes before kick-off due to the freezing conditions and the state of the pitch.

Coach Philippe Saint-Andre will announce his starting line-up on Wednesday.

"We will leave naming the team till Wednesday instead of Tuesday to see how the players recover from their efforts [against Scotland]," he said.

"We also want to take another look at our next opponents as Ireland have also played another game having defeated Italy [on Saturday]."

Poitrenaud said he was delighted to be back once again in the frame after missing out on the World Cup in New Zealand under previous coach Marc Lievremont.

"I am used to coming and going into the French team," he said "It's my turn once again and Just hope it all goes well."

France squad:

Forwards: Nicolas Mas, David Attoub, Vincent Debaty, Jean-Baptiste Poux, William Servat, Dimitri Szarzewski, Pascal Papé, Lionel Nallet, Yoann Maestri, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Julien Bonnaire, Imanol Harinordoquy, Louis Picamoles.

Backs: Morgan Parra, Julien Dupuy, François Trinh-Duc, Lionel Beauxis, Maxime Mermoz, Aurélien Rougerie, Wesley Fofana, Vincent Clerc, Julien Malzieu, Clément Poitrenaud.

Date: Sunday, March 4
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 16.00 (15.00 GMT)
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Andrew Small (England)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)

AFP