Ireland hooker Neve Jones believes they can upset the French gameplan when they meet at the Stade Marie-Marvingt, with an estimated 14,000 spectators set to be in attendance for the tournament opener.

France are strong favourites to record a sixth win in a row over Ireland, who have never won a Women’s Six Nations game in France.

“Yeah, we’re ready to go. We’ve got a few things up our sleeve for them and we’re just dying to go,” Jones said after the captain’s run in Le Mans.

“Just try and disrupt them. They’ve a variety in their game and just try to do anything we can to play our rugby and not let them play theirs”.

Following last year’s finish at the bottom of the Women’s Six Nations table, Jones believes this will motivate the squad and she doesn’t think their confidence has been rocked ahead of the start of a new Championship.

“No, I don’t think so. I think it has spurred us on. We’ve got loads of new people in,” she said.

“Scott’s (Bemand, head coach) come in and been fantastic.

“We had a great WXV. And I think we’ve been training really well over the past couple of weeks and we’re just ready to take the field.”

Saturday’s game will be Jones’s 22nd Ireland cap and she is one of the most effective players in the team.

In last year’s Six Nations, she completed the most tackles (92) of any player and only missed two.

When it comes to the line-out, in particular, on Saturday, Jones will have to operate without her Gloucester-Hartpury team-mate with Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan ruled out for this game as she follows return-to-play protocols. It means a new-look second-row combination of Dorothy Wall and Hannah O’Connor.

“We’re going to miss Sam, but we’ve got plenty of other great girls to pull on the green jersey. They’re very excited and Sam’s been great this week, helping us prepare, especially with our line-out. She’s been up in the line-out defence testing us.

Jones is the latest player to highlight the work of culture and leadership lead Sean Ryan, who started working with the squad last summer.

“He just adds a nice calmness to the manicness of rugby. Nothing’s ever going to be the same in rugby, but he adds a nice calmness to it that makes us feel confident and ready and go.”