Ireland and France place their faith in junior pairings
French coach Marc Lievremont and Ireland counterpart Declan Kidney have put their faith in partnerships that brought them success at junior level when the teams meet in tomorrow's Six Nations opener at Croke Park .
Lievremont has chosen 23-year-old half backs Sebastien Tillous-Borde and Lionel Beauxis, a pair he coached to under-19 World Cup victory.
In his Six Nations coaching debut, Kidney has given Paddy Wallace a first championship start alongside Brian O'Driscoll at centre. The pair first played together at 10 and 12 when Ireland beat France at the 1998 under-19 World Cup.
The French coach clearly has an eye on the 2011 World Cup, particularly given 20-year-old Morgan Para's promotion to the bench instead of Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
Kidney, the former Munster Heineken Cup-winning coach, has selected on form, a factor his predecessor Eddie O'Sullivan was accused of ignoring. Jerry Flannery has been preferred to Rory Best at hooker while Jamie Heaslip has the No8 jersey ahead of Denis Leamy.
"Wallace has shown a lot of consistent form and dovetails well with Ronan (O'Gara) on the inside and Brian (O'Driscoll) on the outside," said Kidney.
Ireland's recent record against the French has been dismal having lost their last seven matches, including a late defeat in the first rugby match played at Croke Park two years ago which ultimately cost them a first grand slam since 1948. Ireland's results since are even more worrying. Following a 51-24 win over Italy in March 2007, they have played 15 tests against countries ranked in the world's top 10 and have won only four.
