Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI senior journalist

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Even with the injuries forcing his hand in some areas, Andy Farrell has still made some bold selection calls elsewhere.

Jacob Stockdale, now eight years on from his heroics of the 2018 Grand Slam, has been in good form at Ulster for this season and last but still few would have predicted that even an out-of-form James Lowe would not be given Paris as an opportunity to restrengthen his grip on the 11 jersey.

And while we've all spent plenty of time debating the merits of one Prendergast in the team, now we have another.

The easiest thing would have been to slip Tadhg Beirne into the back row - as Farrell did for the three British and Irish Lions Tests in the summer don't forget - and have James Ryan start but instead Cian Prendergast takes the six jersey that had been occupied by Ryan Baird since Peter O'Mahony's retirement.

So much to unpack here, let us know what you think by using the contact form and we'll discuss it all before we here from Farrell himself at 09:00 GMT.

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Was it the right call for Sam Prendergast to get the nod at number 10?

He fended off competition from Jack Crowley and Harry Byrne, who has been in impressive form for Leinster recently.

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Here's Conor Murray on Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey, who has had to bide his time in green:

"He's been around for so long that he'd make fun of himself in camp about holding tackle pads. It's really admirable that he's stuck with it.

"There's some guys that come into camp, they're not involved for years and they go through the motions and go back to their club. But he's stuck with it."

Time for another coffee, Jonathan?

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI senior journalist

I'll be honest, I've been doing this a long while and form not fame is a much better line than I've come up with this morning.

Don't forget, you can have your say on Ireland's team selection by using the contact form on the page.

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Here's former Ireland wing Andrew Trimble on Tommy O'Brien:

"It's more than what he does, it's the energy it injects in the backline. His ability to go from 0 to 100 is incredible. He's really skilful. We're saying there's enough guys to be concerned about their individual form but he's one guy who's playing out of his skin."

Andy Farrell has named his starting team, but how does it compare to Conor Murray's starting XV?

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI senior journalist

We'll get to some of the big selection debates in a moment, but lets start with those injuries.

With no Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong and Ryan Baird, Ireland are without one third of what feels like Andy Farrell's favoured starting team for what is arguably the toughest assignment in the Six Nations.

That's before we mention Bundee Aki - for my money Stuart McCloskey would have started regardless of the Connacht man's suspension - and the fact that Porter's two primary back-ups are missing too.

That's, well, a lot to contend with to put it mildly.

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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."

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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."

We knew the likes of Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy, Jack Boyle, Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan, Robbie Henhsaw and Bundee Aki would all be unavailable, but who else has missed out?

Tadhg Furlong hasn't made the cut either despite hopes he would have recovered from a calf injury.

James Lowe is the shock omission as Andy Farrell opts for the in-form Jacob Stockdale, and Sam Prendergast won the battle to start in the fly-half jersey ahead of Jack Crowley and Harry Byrne.

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Jeremy Loughman made his last Ireland appearance two years ago in the Six Nations, and his last start came in November 2022.

Andy Farrell's side have been ravaged by injury on both sides of the front row, but the Munster prop has been handed the keys in Paris with Tadhg Furlong still sidelined.

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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.

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Ireland Rugby

Here's Ireland's team in full for the opener in Paris.

Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O'Brien; Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey; Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jeremy Loughman, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Cian Prendergast, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Michael Milne, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Jack Conan, Nick Timoney, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley.

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Jeremy Loughman has been handed his chance at prop, but there's no place for James Lowe as he is replaced by Jacob Stockdale on the left wing.

Full team news to come.

Not long to go until Ireland's team is announced.

It should be dropping any minute now.

As ever, you can have your say.

How do you think Ireland will get on in the Six Nations?

Who should start at 10 for Ireland?

How will Andy Farrell's side cope with their extensive injury list?

Use 'Get Involved' and you can let us know what you think.

Rory Best knows a thing or two about the Six Nations, but who would he pick to start in Paris on Thursday?

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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."