Robbie Henshaw will make his first start of the 2015 Rugby World Cup against Italy after overcoming the hamstring injury which ruled him out of the opening two games against Canada and Romania.
The 22-year-old has trained all week and gets the nod from head coach Joe Schmidt to start in midfield. Henshaw comes in to replace Jared Payne, who is ruled out due to a bruised foot.
Rob Kearney will also be sidelined for the game against Italy - he had a scan this week after sustaining a heavy blow to the hip in the win over Romania and was deemed unfit to start on Sunday (4.45pm, live on RT Radio 1).
Jack McGrath starts ahead of Cian Healy at loose head alongside Rory Best and Mike Ross, while Iain Henderson and team captain Paul O’Connell are in the second row with Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip behind them.
As expected Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton are at half back with Tommy Bowe and Dave Kearney on the wings. Keith Earls joins Henshaw in the centre, with Simon Zebo at full-back.
Schmidt confirmed that Payne is close to a return to action but he decided against rushing him back early.
"He is progressing really well, he's got bruising and that's it and that is getting better by the day," Schmidt told a news conference, adding that he was quietly confident the Ulsterman would be fit for the French game.
"Rob's probably fit to play and trained pretty much fully today so there's no real doubts for him next week."
A win for Ireland against will guarantee progress to the quarter-final stage of the competition.
Ireland: Simon Zebo, Tommy Bowe, Keith Earls, Robbie Henshaw, Dave Kearney, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray, Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Mike Ross, Iain Henderson, Paul O’Connell, Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Nathan White, Devin Toner, Chris Henry, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Luke Fitzgerald.
