Cullen: Keeps captaincy

Declan Kidney's side had a far-from-ideal start to their World Cup preparations as they suffered a 10-6 defeat in a scrappy contest at Murrayfield.

And they now face the first of two fixtures against France, who will be playing their opening Test of the summer after opting not to play a warm-up game last weekend.

Kidney has made a total of eight changes to his starting XV, with what is generally thought to be the first-choice front-row of Cian Healy, Rory Best and Mike Ross coming in after being absent against Scotland.

Leo Cullen, who continues as skipper with Brian O'Driscoll not yet ready to return, is joined by the experienced Donncha O'Callaghan in the second row.

The half-back pairing is also changed completely, with Eoin Reddan and Ronan O'Gara coming in for Tomas O'Leary and Jonathan Sexton.

Keith Earls replaces Fergus McFadden in the centres with Kidney, keen to avoid a second straight defeat, picking a strong starting line-up for the contest.

"This is the right selection because it's very important you pick a team you think is strong enough to win and that's what we've done," Kidney said.

Full-back Rob Kearney has been given the opportunity to get another start under his belt as he continues his recovery from a serious knee injury.

Kidney added: "Rob's knee is fine, he just had a bit of cramp. He did very well against Scotland for a guy playing his first match for so long. The more game time he has the better."

France have handed a debut to 22-year-old Biarritz No. 8 Raphael Lakafia, who will be joined in the back row by experienced flankers Imanol Harinordoquy and Thierry Dusautoir.

"I am ready physically and mentally for this challenge," Lakafia said.

"I am not worried about the game. I will just try and keep my head. Throughout the year, it has been getting closer but things happen in their own good time. I must keep focused but I see no reason why anything should go badly."

Vincent Clerc starts on the wing despite dealing with a knee problem while the likes of Dimitri Szarzewski, Maxime Mermoz and Damien Traille all return after missing the end of last season through injury.

Kick-off is at 7.45pm BST.

France: 15 D Traille, 14 V Clerc, 13 D Marty, 12 M Mermoz, 11 A Palisson, 10 F Trinh-Duc, 9 D Yachvili, 8 R Lakafia, 7 I Harinordoquy,6 T Dusautoir (capt), 5 R Millo-Chluski, 4 J Pierre, 3 L Ducalcon, 2 D Szarzewski, 1 S Marconnet .

Replacements: 16 G Guirado, 17 J-B Poux, 18 L Nallet, 19 J Bonnaire, 20 M Parra, 21 D Skrela, 22 M Medard.

Ireland: 15 R Kearney, 14 A Trimble, 13 K Earls, 12 P Wallace, 11 L Fitzgerald, 10 R O'Gara , 9 E Reddan, 8 D Leamy, 7 S O'Brien, 6 D Ryan, 5 L Cullen (capt), 4 D O'Callaghan, 3 M Ross, 2 R Best, 1 C Healy.Replacements: 16 J Flannery, 17 T Buckley, 18 P O'Connell, 19 J Heaslip, 20 C Murray, 21 F McFadden, 22 F Jones.