France have been dealt a triple injury blow ahead of their Six Nations game against Ireland (10/11 to beat France with a plus five handicap) with Aurelien Rougerie, Benjamin Fall and Luc Ducalcon all ruled out through injury.

The trio were all included in the squad for what already could be the championship decider at the Stade de France but have all three failed fitness tests.

The prognois for two of the three isn’t good either with Rougerie likely to be out of action for three weeks, Brive winger Alex Palisson coming in to replace him for the game against the Irish (5/1 to complete a Grand Slam).

Prop Ducalcon has been replaced by Toulouse (10/3 to win the Heineken Cup) prop Jean-Baptiste Poux while Fall, who had initially been declared fit on Tuesday, is replaced by Clermonet’s Julien Maizieu.

France coach Marc Lievremont says he is looking for his side to be more ruthless in the oppositions 22 after seeing his team fail to kill of Scotland last weekend.

“It is true that we were disappointed,” said the coach. “I believe we were in their half for 60-65% of the match, and had 55% possession.

“We failed to kill the match. It is imperative that we do better, especially as Ireland have more weapons than the Scots.

The French (6/5 to win the Six Nations outright) aren’t the only side with injury problems though as the Irish (9/4) wait for news on Andrew Trimble.

The Ulster winger has a hamstring strain and remains a concern while Stephen Ferris could also miss out with a knee injury.