The Gaelic Athletic Association-owned venue is the fourth biggest stadium in Europe and will be home to Ireland's rugby team while Lansdowne Road is being refurbished.

With an 82,300 capacity Brian O'Driscoll and co are sure to benefit from the support and France coach Bernard Laporte is expecting a 'hellish' atmosphere for the match.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Sunday's showdown which could prove pivotal to both team's Six Nations title aspirations.

Favourites Ireland must topple Les Blues, the defending champions, if they are to give themselves a serious chance of winning the tournament.

They began their campaign with an unconvincing 19-9 victory over Wales and their build-up to Sunday has been hampered by injuries to Brian O'Driscoll and Peter Stringer.

But Leinster winger Shane Horgan, who was in magnificent form during the autumn, returns to the side ahead of schedule after recovering from a knee injury in a timely lift for the Triple Crown Holders.

England are next up for the Irish so victory over France would set-up a potentially titanic meeting with the world champions, who should have few problems beating Italy.

But Ireland can ill afford to look past the unpredictable French who cast aside their dismal November series to thump a fancied Azzurri outfit 39-3 last weekend.

Laporte has made five changes, bringing in David Marty, Vincent Clerc, Sylvain Marconnet, Pascal Pape and Imanol Harinordoquy promoted to the starting line-up as he continues to experiment with the World Cup in mind.