The Guinness Six Nations kicks off on Thursday night with Ireland away to last year's winner France in Paris.
The defending champions are big favourites against Andy Farrell’s visitors, who are dealing with a lengthy injury list.
Ireland have tended to start strongly over recent Six Nations tournaments including an away win in this fixture, in Marseille, two years ago.
Find out all you need to know about the game here.
ONLINE
Follow a live blog of France v Ireland on RTE.ie/sport and the RTÉ News App followed by report, reaction and player ratings.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary of Ireland v France on RTÉ Radio 1.
TV
France v Ireland (Thursday, 8.10pm Irish time) and Italy v Scotland (Saturday, 2.10pm) are live on Virgin Media.
England v Wales (Saturday, 4.40pm) is on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
Highlights of all of the weekend's games are on Against The Head, Monday, 8pm, RTÉ2.
WEATHER
There are light rain showers and light winds forecast for Paris on Thursday night. Temperature is set to be around 10C.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and email us at sportpodcasts@rte.ie
First off, why is this game on a Thursday?
Although it's not the first ever time a championship match has been played on a Thursday, it’s the first time in the Six Nations era.
Back in the glorious year of 1948 Ireland played France on a Thursday night and won 13-6 on their way to Grand Slam glory.
This time the fixture has been moved forward to avoid a clash for 'television viewers’ with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, which takes place in Milan on Friday night.
Go figure (skate).
Back to on-field matters, this is the 105th meeting of the teams with Ireland having won 37 and France 60. There have been seven draws.
The two teams have won the championship for the last four renewals, France in 2022 and last year, while Ireland were victorious in 2023 and 2024.
There were mixed autumn campaigns for the sides. Ireland, currently ranked fourth in the world, were well beaten by New Zealand and South Africa and picked up wins over Japan and Australia.
The Against the Head panel of Donal Lenihan, Bernard Jackman and Darren Cave set the scene ahead of the start of the 2026 Guinness #SixNations #RTESport #RTERugby pic.twitter.com/b2sk0Zo71B
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 2, 2026
Les Bleus, ranked fifth, lost to the Springboks, but beat Fiji and Australia.
While the average winning margin from France and Ireland’s last 10 meetings is fewer than seven points, the last two games have been over long before the final whistle.
Fabien Galthie’s side hammered Ireland 42-27 last year in Dublin, while the roles were reversed two years ago in Marseille when the visitors recorded a 37-18 success.
Ireland are missing a number of frontline players including Tadhg Furlong, Andrew Porter, Ryan Baird, Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw and Hugo Keenan through injury, while Bundee Aki is suspended.
That means first Six Nations games for prop Jeremy Loughman and back row Cian Prendergast, starting for the first time alongside brother Sam, while Jacob Stockdale (below), in for James Lowe, gets his first championship appearance in five years.
Munster loosehead Michael Milne, who has just two caps to his name, is one of six forwards on the bench.
For the hosts, Antoine Dupont is back for the first time since picking up a knee injury in last year’s tie, while Matthieu Jalibert is at out-half in the absence of Romain Ntamack.
Greg Alldritt, Gael Fickou and Damian Penaud have all been left out of the squad, while Uini Atonio was forced to retire last week due to a heart issue.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey - last year's player of the tournament after scoring eight tries - starts on the left wing.
TEAMS
France: Thomas Ramos; Theo Attissogbe, Nicolas Depoortere, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont (capt); Jean-Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri; Charles Ollivon, Mickael Guillard; Oscar Jegou, Francois Cros, Anthony Jelonch.
Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Rodrigue Neti, Regis Montagne, Hugo Auradou, Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi, Baptiste Serin, Kalvin Gourgues.
Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O'Brien, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jeremy Loughman, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Cian Prendergast, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt)
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Michael Milne, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Jack Conan, Nick Timoney, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley.
OFFICIALS
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
FPRO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
WHAT THEY SAID:
Fabien Galthie (France head coach): "I was not happy with the style of play we used in November even if taking the statistics into account France had the best attack, but the fifth in terms of defence. The priority is to be balanced."
"50% of the time we had the ball, the other half we did not, and it is true often in France we are romantics, and for us in terms of playing the game possession of the ball is our unique passion but the game is one of balance."
Andy Farrell (Ireland head coach): "We've talked about discipline a lot in the coming weeks in regards to how the game's changing. We need to get it back to being a point of difference for us, because it's not long ago that's what it was."
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Ireland 27-42 France - Aviva Stadium (8 March 2025, Six Nations)
France 17-38 Ireland - Stade Velodrome (2 February 2024, Six Nations)
Ireland 32-19 France – Aviva Stadium (11 February 2023, Six Nations)
France 30-24 Ireland – Stade de France (12 February 2022, Six Nations)
Ireland 13-15 France – Aviva Stadium (14 February 2021, Six Nations)
Elsewhere, the other round-one games see Italy host Scotland on Saturday afternoon (2.10pm Irish time), followed by England v Wales at 4.40pm.
