PARIS (AP): Ireland was dealt a major blow when inspirational captain Jonathan Sexton was ruled out of its Six Nations showdown with France on Saturday in Paris.
The 36-year-old flyhalf injured a hamstring in training on Wednesday and his place went to Joey Carbery, who will make his first Six Nations start.
Carbery played 16 minutes off the bench as Wales was humbled 29-7 last Saturday in Dublin. That was his first action since before Christmas when he broke an elbow. Jack Carty, not capped since the 2019 Rugby World Cup, was the backup flyhalf.
Carbery for Sexton was the only selection change from the starting side which crushed Wales. In the reserves, Lions Iain Henderson and Robbie Henshaw are back after sitting out the Wales game, so lock Ryan Baird and center James Hume drop out.
Lock James Ryan takes over the captaincy.
France and Ireland are the title favorites — France narrowly ahead by virtue of having the home match — and both opened the tournament with bonus-point victories, but the French were scrappy in putting down Italy 37-10 last Sunday.
But Ireland will miss the 102-cap Sexton’s craft and guile in such a big game, giving France another edge in the halves with world player of the year Antoine Dupont alongside the silky Romain Ntamack.
France has made two changes, with Yoram Moefana replacing the injured Jonathan Danty at center and flanker Francois Cros taking Dylan Cretin’s place.
Moefana showed good hands to set up left winger Gabin Villiere’s hat trick try against Italy, but containing standout midfielder Bundee Aki will be a tough proposition.
“Yoram played really well against England in the Autumn Cup. Yoram’s ready: Physically, technically and psychologically,” coach Fabien Galthie said. “His teammates will ensure he plays his own game so his natural talent comes out, and he has a lot of it.”
Cameron Woki continues at lock after burly tackler Bernard Le Roux was surprisingly left out of the squad.
“Cameron Woki is tough, he’s a young and combative player. Of course, Bernard counts a lot for us, he has another profile, he’s a great fighter and he helped us over the past year,” Galthie said. “He’s still in our plans. We’re expecting a hard game but Cameron’s not alone in the forwards. I think we’ve got enough to face up to the toughness of Ireland’s pack.”
Galthie again loaded his bench with forwards, calling them “finishers” who he expects to cause damage late on.
“Ireland don’t give away many penalties at the moment, they’re not whistled against much, and they know very well how to perform within the rules. We’re a bit more unpredictable at times (and) there were a couple of tetchy reactions against Italy.
“We have forwards who are ready to come on in the second half, they’ll be warming up together,” he added. “We have the ‘finishers’ who will enable us to win the last 20 minutes of the game. We are preparing to unleash them at Stade de France.”
Lineups:
France: Melvyn Jaminet, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Yoram Moefana, Gabin Villiere, Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (captain); Anthony Jelonch, Gregory Alldritt, Francois Cros, Paul Willemse, Cameron Woki, Uini Atonio, Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille. Reserves: Peato Mauvaka, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Demba Bamba, Romain Taofifenua, Thibaud Flament, Dylan Cretin, Maxime Lucu, Thomas Ramos.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan, Andrew Conway, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Joey Carbery, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris, James Ryan (captain), Tadhg Beirne, Tadhg Furlong, Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter. Reserves: Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Jack Carty, Robbie Henshaw.
