Carty on the bench as Henshaw and Claffey are ruled out
Jack Carty has been selected on the bench for Ireland's Six Nations Championship clash with France at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Athlone man and Connacht star made his Ireland senior debut when introduced as a substitute in the recent win over Italy in Rome.
Rory Best returns to the starting line-up to captain the side and is joined in the front row by Cian Healy and Tadgh Furlong.
Robbie Henshaw has ruled out of the game through injury, the latest injury blow for the highly rated Leinster centre and Coosan native.
There was also bad news on the injury front for another local rugby player earlier this week, with Ireland women's star Michelle Claffey ruled out for the remainder of the Six Nations campaign.
Ballinahown native Claffey required ankle surgery after sustaining an injury in the first half of the loss to Italy in Parma.
Meanwhile, Niall Murray of Buccaneers has again retained his place in the Ireland U-20 starting team for their clash with France in Cork tonight (Friday), at 7.15pm. Murray from Brideswell will be partnered in the second row by Ireland captain Charlie Ryan.
Ireland Team & Replacements (v France, Sunday 10th March, KO 3pm):
15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 89 caps
14. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 75 caps
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 18 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 15 caps
11. Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 17 caps
10. Jonathan Sexton (St Mary's College/Leinster) 81 caps
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 70 caps
1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 86 caps
2. Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 115 caps (c)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 31 caps
4. Iain Henderson (Queens University/Ulster) 43 caps
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 15 caps
6. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 55 caps
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 16 caps
8. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 29 caps
Replacements
16. Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 12 caps
17. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 27 caps
18. John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 17 caps
19. Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) 13 caps
20. Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 12 caps
21. John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 7 caps
22. Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 1 cap
23. Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 11 caps