In my opinion this is far more than just another Six Nations encounter. It's the first time ever in Six Nations rugby that we've had the No 1 and No 2-ranked sides playing against each other. You're eight months out from a Rugby World Cup where both teams could meet in a quarter-final, so the whole of rugby is focused in on this game.
[Ireland] lost narrowly to France last year; the Irish were blown away by the support that France had then. The whole of France has got behind their effort to win the World Cup and that was evident by the support they had in the Stade de France.
The Aviva, as we know on its day, can be brilliant, but we don't always see it. Sometimes it takes the All Blacks to turn up for the crowd to get in early, to get behind the team from the outset.
This game is going to be so tight that you have to make the maximum out of your home advantage. I'm not in the least surprised that Andy Farrell and the Irish players are almost pleading with the Irish supporters to get in there early, get behind them and give them the lift that can carry them over the line.
I think the loss of Dan Sheehan is huge in the context of Sheehan being a special player. He was on the periphery of the team last year and got his opportunity because Rónan Kelleher got injured. He's been unbelievable, an exceptional player. I think the two best hookers in the world at the moment are Julien Marchand, who'll be playing tomorrow, and Dan Sheehan.
Andy Farrell welcomes chaos on the basis that this is what you get at a World Cup. In the past on the morning of a quarter-final or the week leading in, we've lost so many players.
He's certainly getting that now. For me it's the biggest test for the Irish team since the deciding game against New Zealand last summer in Wellington. If you look at the team that won that third test, they are now down Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong in the front row; they are down Jamison Gibson-Park and Robbie Henshaw in the back line, plus Cian Healy is off the bench. Your resources are being tested - but that's what Farrell wants. It's a next-man-in mentality.
"There is a sliver of paper between the sides"
There were issues with injuries going into Wales and Ireland performed unbelievably well in the opening 25 minutes. This time out you feel you are going to have to sustain that over the full 80 minutes. This is a French team, even though they are not quite playing as well as they have been, they are on a 14-game winning streak. They were very poor against Italy, but I wonder was there a sense with them that this game was in the back of their minds all along? I think you'll see a different French outfit tomorrow.
It's incredibly tight to call. We've lost the last three to France; the last two have been one-score games - 30-26 last year, 15-13 two years ago. It's going to come down to a moment of inspiration; I really think it's going to be that tight. I go with Ireland because I think they have this momentum and have faced every challenge that has been thrown their way over the past 18 months.
It will be a toss of a coin really. You look at [Antoine] Dupont, who is possibly the best rugby player in the world and then there's Caelan Doris against Grégory Alldritt, two of the best number 8s in the world. There literally is a sliver of paper between the sides. The home advantage, and that's the reason why Andy Farrell has been bigging it up, that could be the difference at the end of the day. It's going to be that tight.
Donal Lenihan was speaking on Morning Ireland.
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