Horgan was expected to sit out the first three matches of the championship with the knee injury he sustained on European Cup duty last month but has been selected on the right wing.

Ulster back Andrew Trimble drops to the bench while the outside centre and scrum-half positions have been left blank with Brian O'Driscoll and Peter Stringer in a race against time to recover from injury.

ODriscoll suffered a hamstring strain in last weekends 19-9 victory over Wales and is rated 50/50 for the France game with the Leinster centre given until Saturday to prove his fitness.

Munster half-back Stringer fractured his hand at the Millennium Stadium and a decision on his availability is schedule to be made on Friday.

Ireland have drawn up a contingency plan in case the veteran duo fail to recover in time for Croke Parks international rugby debut.

If ODriscoll is ruled out, Horgan will move to centre with Geordan Murphy taking the number 14 jersey, Trimble filling the vacancy on the bench and Paul OConnell assuming the captaincy.

Should Stringer miss out, Isaac Boss of Ulster will be promoted to the starting line-up with Wasps scrum-half Eoin Reddan winning a place among the substitutes.

Irelands squad is made up of 25 players to cover for the possible withdrawals with Leinster number eight Jamie Heaslip also on standby in case Denis Leamy, who had an abscess incised and drained on Monday, drops out.

O'Driscoll said: "The hamstring feels okay but I genuinely wont know whether Ill be able to play until Saturday.

Its a question of working hard on the rehabilitation in the hope of giving myself every chance.

Im in the best possible hands and as things stand I suppose its a 50/50 chance of being able to play.

As the week goes on Ill be in a better position to judge. I desperately want to play but have to be fair to the team.