Ireland Six Nations team announcement

'Patchy at best'

France v Ireland (Thu, 20:10 GMT)

Ireland Rugby Social

Listen on BBC Sounds

Speaking on the Ireland Rugby Social podcast, Rory Best & Conor Murray had this to saw on the form of wing James Lowe.

Rory Best: "The worry is that a lot of the key players like James Lowe, their form has been patchy at best, but he's such an important player for Ireland. Depending on who you'd pick at full-back, you would pick Jacob [Stockdale] ahead of him on form. But Andy knows what he can do."

Murray: "He will know himself he hasn't played as well as he can. He'll know he's not performing up to scratch. But when he's on form, he's wearing that 11 jersey for me all day. What Andy will do to Lowe, and I've seen it, he'll put him under huge pressure. He knows how to deal with individuals. Some guys need an arm around the shoulder. With Lowe, I've seen him do it, he'll be ultra-critical of him in the meeting room and he knows that's what's going to get the best out of him."

Post

France v Ireland (Thu, 20:10 GMT)

Ireland Rugby

So, Andy Farrell has made some big calls. But what do you make of them? Let us know using the contact form on this page.

Did he make the right call? Do you have any questions for BBC Sport NI's Jonathan Bradley?

Don't forget, we'll also be hearing from Andy Farrell in his press conference at 09:00 GMT. We'll have updated and you can also watch that live.

Keenan 'a massive loss for Ireland'

France v Ireland (Thu, 20:10 GMT)

Ireland Rugby Social

Listen on BBC Sounds

Hugo Keenan is set to miss Ireland's opener after fracturing his thumb in training, but how does Conor Murray feel Ireland will cope without him?

"Hugo literally runs the week. He'd be in front of the TV giving presentations about the backfield and analysing the French and laying out the plan and how they're going to manage kickspace or whatever. I've seen him do that in recent years so that'll be a huge loss. I can't think of someone who can step into that.

"He's like half-player, half-coach. Everyone sees the way he plays, he's an incredible player. But the way he leads the week, he takes an awful lot of weight off Simon Easterby's shoulders in terms of the defensive role with the backfield stuff, so he's a massive loss."

How was Ireland's 2025?

France v Ireland (Thu, 20:10 GMT)

Ireland's 2025 actually started pretty well in the Six Nations as they defeated England, Scotland and Wales to win the Triple Crown, under the lead of Simon Easterby as Andy Farrell prepared for the British and Irish Lions.

However, it's fair to say things were mixed after that. France ended any hopes of a Grand Slam with a dominant win in Dublin, and their Six Nations came to a close with a narrow win in Italy.

Without a large number of their squad, who were with Farrell and the Lions, Ireland's fringe players signed off Easterby's reign with big wins over Georgia and Portugal.

With Farrell back in the autumn, Ireland lost to the All Blacks in Chicago but recorded wins over Japan and Australia.

Their year ended with a chaotic defeat by South Africa in Dublin, and they will look to bounce back this year.

'We need to protect values'

France v Ireland (Thu, 20:10 GMT)

Matt Gault

BBC Sport NI senior journalist

Reacting to Aki's suspension, former Ireland captain Rory Best said: "You can't do that [disrespect a referee]. I'm a big fan of Bundee as a player and a person but when you're talking about refereeing, they're definitely a lot more under the spotlight because it's not just how they control the game now, it's how fast the game flows.

"If the game doesn't last 90-minutes-ish, it's the referee's fault, if they go to the TMO too often, it's their fault. Things are happening in a split-second so there's a lot of spotlight on them."

Best, who captained Ireland to the 2018 Grand Slam, added he has a "lot of sympathy" for referees.

"Part of the values of the game and what makes rugby stand out above all other sports is that respect to the referee so if we're going to let that go, that's one part of our game, our history and future, that's broken away and then we can't stand on the soapbox that we love to stand on and go 'well, that wouldn't happen in a rugby match'.

"If we're going to let it happen, it will. I get as frustrated as anyone with refereeing decisions but they're humans trying to make the best decisions they can and there's so much spotlight, it's a really tricky position.

"The bottom line is from the values of the game, we need to protect them but without them you can't have the game either."

Aki out of Ireland squad

France v Ireland (Thu, 20:10 GMT)

Bundee Aki has been suspended for Ireland's first three Six Nations matches after being handed a four-game ban for "verbal abuse and disrespect" towards match officials in Connacht's United Rugby Championship (URC) loss to Leinster last weekend.

The 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year nominee was handed a six-week ban - two of which are suspended - after an independent disciplinary committee hearing found that he "engaged with the match official team after the game on several occasions".

Aki, 35, will miss Connacht's URC game against Zebre this weekend and Ireland's Six Nations fixtures against France, Italy and England.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) confirmed Aki had not travelled to Ireland's pre-tournament training camp in Portugal and said it would investigate the matter internally, with Ulster's Jude Postlethwaite called up to the squad.

Confirming the sanction, the URC said it recognised Aki's "full regret for his actions and was grateful for the approach he took towards the proceedings".

"However, given the player's previous disciplinary record (including incidents of a similar nature) and his lack of a plea in this case, the Independent Committee could not apply mitigation to the sanction," the statement added.

Ireland face France in Paris on 5 February before hosting Italy in Dublin on 14 February. They take on England at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium on 21 February before home games against Wales and Scotland on 6 and 14 March.

Two-time British and Irish Lions tourist Aki has won 68 caps for Ireland and has won three Six Nations titles, including Grand Slams in 2018 and 2023.

Bonjour!

France v Ireland (Thu, 20:10 GMT)

Morning, all!

It's that time of year again when the Six Nations rolls into town and the first Ireland team is about 30 minutes away from being announced.

It's a tricky opener for Andy Farrell's side against holders France and we'll be hearing from Ireland's head coach in Paris at 09:00 GMT, and you can watch it live right here.

We'll have the breaking team news from 08:00 GMT and then Farrell's press conference at 09:00 GMT, so you'll be able to stay right up to date.

Six Nations holders France name their team at 10:00 GMT, so we'll also bring you that as it breaks - with a return for Antoine Dupont expected.

So, go and grab a coffee and make yourself comfortable.

Thanks for joining us!

Click here to read article