Six Nations: Ireland aim to build ‘green wave’ over tournament says Emily Lane

With lock Sam Monaghan missing the championship through injury and Edel McMahon starting on the bench for the opener, Ireland will have a new captain against France with Amee-Leigh Costigan leading the side out for the first time.

Like Lane, Costigan was an Olympian last year and does have previous captaincy experience in the sevens game.

“It’s a huge honour, I’m so excited about it,” the new skipper told BBC Sport.

“I’ve been guided really well by Tricky [McMahon] and Sam, the co-captains.

“They’ve given me really good advice over the last 48 hours.”

The game will again be staged in Belfast, where Ireland have beaten both Scotland and Australia in the last 12 months.

Having finished runners-up to England in each of the past five seasons, however, France will be viewed as a step up in opposition.

Ireland have not beaten their visitors since 2017 and Costigan knows a result against a side they could potentially meet in a World Cup quarter-final later this year would be viewed as a significant marker.

“It would be a huge statement but we’ve to stick to our gameplan, do our very best out there, and give the fans something to cheer on,” she added.

“We want this to be very competitive, to set teams up going into the World Cup in September.”