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Six Nations 2018 Countdown

News & Sport

Six Nations 2018 Countdown

SPIN 1038
SPIN 1038

12:59 30 Jan 2018


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Ireland get their Six Nations campaign underway this Saturday evening as they travel to Paris to take on France.

After back to back wins in 2014 and 2015, Joe Schmidt's men have had to watch England claim the last two championships. 

Ahead of Saturday's opener, here is all you need to know about Ireland in the Six Nations:

Fixtures:

France - Stade de France - Saturday, February 3 - 5.45pm

Italy- Aviva Stadium - Saturday, February 10 - 2.15pm

Wales - Aviva Stadium - Saturday, February 24 - 2.15pm

Scotland - Aviva Stadium - Saturday, March 10 - 2.15pm

England - Twickenham Stadium - Saturday, March 17 - 2.45pm

The Squad:

BACKS (16): Andrew Conway (Munster), Keith Earls (Munster), Rob Kearney (Leinster), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Jordan Larmour (Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), Chris Farrell (Munster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), Rory Scannell (Munster), Joey Carbery (Leinster), Ian Keatley (Munster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Connacht), Luke McGrath (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster).

FORWARDS (20): Rory Best (Ulster), Sean Cronin (Leinster), Rob Herring (Ulster), James Cronin (Munster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Jack McGrath (Leinster), Andrew Porter (Leinster), John Ryan (Munster), Ultan Dillane (Connacht), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Quinn Roux (Connacht), James Ryan (Leinster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Dan Leavy (Leinster), Jordi Murphy (Leinster), Peter O'Mahony (Munster), CJ Stander (Munster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster).

Championship Record:

Since 2000, Ireland have won the Six Nations three times (2009, 2014, 2015).

Overall, we've won 13 titles outright (1894, 1896, 1899, 1935, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1974, 1982, 1985, 2009, 2014, 2015). 

Remember this one in 2009?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2pIursHmEZc" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Side To Start v France:

Here is who WE think will line out against France on Saturday:

Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Jacob Stockdale, Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson, Devin Toner, Peter O’Mahony, Dan Leavy, CJ Stander.

We've went with Kearney at full back even though much has been made of Jordan Larmour's performances in recent weeks.

The 31 year old knows that he has a challenge on his hands to hold onto the green jersey:

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rob Kearney reckons Jordan Larmour is &quot;a flat out winger&quot;... <a href="https://t.co/GkxTTMMkOr">pic.twitter.com/GkxTTMMkOr</a></p>&mdash; Off The Ball (@offtheball) <a href="https://twitter.com/offtheball/status/958006931708358657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 


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