France have suffered a disastrous start, losing to Italy in Rome in their opener, before a lacklustre showing against Wales in Paris was followed by a 23-13 loss against England last time out at Twickenham.

Philippe Saint-André has bemoaned the foreign invasion in the Top 14 in recent seasons, insisting the options he now has open to him - particularly eligible French nationals starting for their club at fly-half - has made his life very difficult indeed.

In comparison, Ireland have also suffered during the RBS 6 Nations, a combination of major injuries to key personnel and some below-par performances have seen Kidney's men win just one of their opening three games.

A win over Wales in Cardiff brought huge optimism Kidney's men would challenge for this year's title, but defeats against England in Dublin and Scotland at Murrayfield have followed.

Both bosses are under huge pressure going into this weekend's must-win game in Dublin - France losing a fourth consecutive game or Ireland having a one win from four-game record are both completely unthinkable.

"We are in a process of defeats," said Saint-Andre. "Critics are there and they are normal. If there is a scapegoat, it's me and nobody else.

"We have good guys. I trust this group. We believe in them because they are capable of anything. We had our best performance of the Six Nations against England.

"It was the highest level. But the high level is won and lost on the details and it's now up to us to do everything to find victory.

"No, I do not think (we will finish last). I think especially in the Ireland match on Saturday we'll have to try to kill the momentum of three straight defeats.

"We'll have to be the most effective. It will make for a good working week."

To try to stop the rot Saint-André has made three changes to his team, recalling the mercurial Frédéric Michalak in place of François Trinh-Duc.

Elsewhere Maxime Médard makes his return after a year away from the international scene because of a knee injury while Florian Fritz gets the nod over Mathieu Bastareaud.

Meanwhile, Kidney, who has a contract with the Irish Football Rugby Union until the summer and admits to feeling extra pressure, has made three changes to his side.

Cian Healy returns from a ban in the front row, while Mike McCarthy comes back in the second row and Fergus McFadden starts on the wing.

And Kidney insists he's not looking past the end of the RBS 6 Nations just yet as speculation mounts as to his future past this summer.

"I haven't been thinking about that, really," said Kidney.

"My only concern is to help the team do as well they can. That's my whole reason for being here. We have another match against France and that's all that I'm concentrating on.

"When any team evolves, as this one is doing, it takes a period of time when you're going to be knocking on the door.

"You try not to knock on the door for too long, and then they'll get a win and a lot of things will kick into place. And they are knocking on the door, that's the frustrating thing about it.

"The recurring theme is that you could say, well, we've tried not to make excuses but if one-pass went to hand, then all of a sudden a whole lot of things change. So it's a case of staying the course with it."