Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is hopeful Ireland can make the most of home advantage against France and is banking on a raucous atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening.
After defeat in Edinburgh and a facile win in Rome, the French will be the first Six Nations visitors to Dublin, who themselves have also opened with a loss and a win.
Schmidt has recalled Johnny Sexton to the starting team at the expense of Paddy Jackson, with Rory Best and Jack McGrath also returning after missing the win in Italy.
With a full-house at Lansdowne Road, Schmidt revealed that he has tailored his training in Carton House this week to take into account the home support.
"It’s great to be home. The first two [matches] were on the road so we’re really looking forward to getting back to the Aviva.
"I know the supporters are looking forward to it as well, there’s a lot looking for tickets and it’s going to be a raucous environment.
"So we trained this week with signals instead of calls because we believe the noise is going to be such that we won’t be able to hear.
“And that’s what we want – that kind of support lifts a team."
Schmidt has been forced to make more changes than he would have liked at this stage of the competition and admits it is impacting on the team's momentum.
"We’ve mixed and matched a lot already"
"We’d have liked a little more rhythm at this stage of the tournament. We have had quite a few guys going in and out so we’re probably not as cohesive as we would have liked.
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"In the first Six Nations I was involved in I think we used 17 different starters across the tournament and it gave us a real continuity.
"We’ve mixed and matched a lot already.”
Having coached at Clermont Auvergne, Schmidt is acutely aware of the inner workings of French rugby.
As well as the obvious physical threats Les Blues will pose, the New Zealander believes that the team they will face on Saturday will be particularly dangerous with better structures in place around the national team's preparation.
"They certainly appear to have the right mix and the right players and I know talking to Guy last year that they were putting foundations in that sound quite promising.
"I just hope that doesn’t come to fruition on Saturday."
Watch Ireland v France live on RTÉ2 from 2.00pm Saturday, listen live on Radio 1's Saturday Sport and follow our live blog on RTE.ie/the News Now app
