But with Ella-Maye back home and her health much-improved, the Munster flyer is free to make his first appearance in this year’s Championship.

After their agonising defeat to Wales last weekend Kidney and his troops know that any chance of winning the RBS 6 Nations hinges on winning in Paris, something they have only done once since 1972 when another 13, Brian O’Driscoll, scored a hat-trick to inspire them to a 27-24 victory at the Stade de France.

And Kidney has opted for continuity rather than shuffling his pack ahead of the crunch encounter, with Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton keeping their places in the half-backs.

The only shift comes in the centres with Gordon D’Arcy staying at inside centre while Earls takes on the not inconsiderable task of inheriting O’Driscoll’s No.13 jersey.

Last weekend that honour went to O’Driscoll’s Leinster teammate Fergus McFadden but the 25-year-old has to settle for a place on the bench on Saturday against the World Cup runners-up.

That means that David Kearney, whose brother Rob continues at full-back, drops out of the match-day squad altogether while Ronan O’Gara and Eoin Reddan are on the bench.

The pack remains unchanged as Stephen Ferris escaped further punishment after being cited for his sin-binning in the Wales match.

Ireland
15. Rob Kearney (Leinster)
14. Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13. Keith Earls (Munster)
12. Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster)
11. Andrew Trimble (Ulster)
10. Jonathan Sexton (Leinster)
9. Conor Murray (Munster)
1. Cian Healy (Leinster)
2. Rory Best (Ulster)
3. Mike Ross (Leinster)
4. Donncha O’Callaghan (Munster)
5. Paul O’Connell (Munster)
6. Stephen Ferris (Ulster)
7. Sean O’Brien (Leinster)
8. Jamie Heaslip (Leinster)

Replacements
16. Sean Cronin (Leinster)
17. Tom Court (Ulster)
18. Donnacha Ryan (Munster)
19. Peter O’Mahony (Munster)
20. Eoin Reddan (Leinster)
21. Ronan O'Gara (Munster)
22. Fergus McFadden (Leinster)