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Published 14:38 5 Mar 2019 GMT
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"Tadhg Beirne's ball-carrying is excellent and that is the one thing we are missing at the moment," said Murphy, "a guy that will get in there and slow the ball down. He is arguably the best in the northern hemisphere at doing it. Stick him in your team."In Murphy's Ireland second row, he sided with Beirne and Henderson but one imagines James Ryan is close to undroppable in the current squad. There is a way to get all three in, and it involves O'Mahony. Dan Leavy is definitely out of this weekend's encounter with Les Bleus so the presumption is Sean O'Brien edging out Josh van der Flier for the openside role. However, Schmidt could employ O'Mahony at No.7 and start with either the versatile Beirne or Henderson at blindside. Both men have club and Test experience in the role, with Beirne wearing jerseys 4 to 8 in his two-season stint with Scarlets. Henderson prefers blindside and would provide some real grunt to the Irish back row. Naming Ryan, Beirne, Henderson, O'Mahony and Stander (if fit) in jerseys 4 to 8 would trouble the French at the breakdown, lineout and in the loose. POTENTIAL IRELAND TEAM TO FACE FRANCE
1. Cian Healy 2. Rory Best (captain) 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. James Ryan 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Iain Henderson 7. Peter O'Mahony 8. CJ Stander 9. Conor Murray 10. Johnny Sexton 11. Jacob Stockdale 12. Bundee Aki 13. Garry Ringrose 14. Keith Earls 15. Rob KearneyIf Schmidt prefers to go back to that template that started in Sydney, when Ireland clinched the Test Series, he could go Stander-O'Mahony and Jack Conan in his back row. WATCH THAT HOUSE OF RUGBY EPISODE HERE:

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