Not long to go now.

The 2018 NatWest Six Nations is set to kick off this time next month with Ireland set to take on France at the Stade de France in their tournament opener.

After a hugely successful November series, with Ireland winning all three of their Tests, Joe Schmidt and his men will no doubt head into this year’s tournament with an air of confidence about them.

When you consider Munster, Ulster and Leinster also all did the double over English opposition in the Champions Cup last month, the Irish are almost joint favourites with England heading into round one.

It could all come crashing down however, if they can’t get off to a winning start in Paris. The French are wounded animals at the moment, and under their new head coach, could be a danger at home.

Here’s the side we reckon should start against the French…

Ireland Team to take on France.

15. Rob Kearney
14. Keith Earls
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. Jacob Stockdale
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Conor Murray

1. Cian Healy
2. Rory Best (c)
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Iain Henderson
5. Devin Toner
6. Peter O’Mahony
7. Sean O’Brien
8. CJ Stander

Replacements: Rob Herring, Jack McGrath, John Ryan, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier, Luke McGrath, Ian Keatley, Andrew Conway

To be fair it’s difficult to argue with most of the selections above. Perhaps there’s an argument to start Aki over Ringrose and push Henshaw out to the thirteen channel, but we do expect injuries and a bit of chopping and changing across the five rounds.

There’s a lot of players knocking on the door right now, including the likes of Andrew Conway, Josh van der Flier and Tiernan O’Halloran, so it’s a big month ahead.

What side would you go with? Let us know in the comments section on social.