PARIS -- France will look to teen centre Gael Fickou to provide the creative spark against an Ireland team desperate to give Brian ODriscoll a perfect send-off in their final Six Nations match on Saturday, with both teams still in contention to win the tournament. After several substitute appearances, the 19-year-old Fickou makes his first start of the campaign as one of four changes to face an Irish team full of attacking menace after scoring 13 tries so far. The midfield contest between Fickou and the 35-year-old ODriscoll promises to be an intriguing one between the worlds most capped player and one looking to become a future great. "The speed and youth of Gael Fickou gives us some interesting options. Hes in form and we need to see him express his talent," France coach Philippe Saint-Andre said. "It will be a real challenge for him and Mathieu Bastareaud against a good pair of centres. But we believe in him. Hes settled in our squad now and is feeling good both mentally and physically." Fickou, who scored a dramatic late winning try in the 26-24 win over England, replaces Maxime Mermoz, ineffective in last weekends 19-17 win at Scotland, while the other change in the backs sees flyhalf Remi Tales replacing Jules Plisson. France, Ireland and England -- which plays in Italy -- have six points each and can all still win the tournament. Ireland has by far the best points differential (+81) of the three title contenders, while France has the worst (+3) behind England (+32). France has to beat Ireland and hope England draws or loses in Rome to stand a realistic chance of winning the trophy. "We will try and put in a great performance, and if we manage to please our fans it will be a bonus," Saint-Andre said. "Were preparing ourselves for a match of the highest level after drawing the last two seasons against them." History counts against Ireland in Paris, where they havent won since 2000, but they have an extra incentive this time. ODriscoll makes his 141st test appearance in a brilliant 15-year career on the same ground where he scored a hat trick of tries in 2000 to give Ireland its first victory in Paris since 1972. "We dont want to make it ODriscolls party," Saint-Andre said. Fourteen years ago, a fresh-faced ODriscoll burst onto the international scene with three expertly-taken tries in Irelands 27-25 win, his blend of speed, flair, safe hands and attacking instinct marking him out as one of the players for the future. Fickou now finds himself in a similar position and is earmarked as a future great. Last weekend, ODriscoll pushed back the years with one of his best performances in the green jersey of Ireland. Although he did not add to his 46 international tries, he played a part in three of his teams first four tries in a crushing 46-7 win over Italy at Lansdowne Road. "Hes a great player, and hes been a great servant to Irish rugby and to world rugby. When he arrived on the scene at Stade de France, he was an unknown and he scored three tries," Saint-Andre said. "He could have been French because he had incredible flair, a capacity to keep the ball alive, to make a pass after contact. He captained the British Lions, he captained Ireland and hes brought so much to world rugby." Tales will line up alongside scrumhalf Maxime Machenaud in the 12th halves pairing Saint-Andre has selected since taking over from Marc Lievremont after France lost the 2011 World Cup final to New Zealand. Saint-Andre was disappointed with Plissons defending against Scotland. "Plissons statistics in defence were not good enough," Saint-Andre said. The two changes in the forwards see Dimitri Szarzewski returning from injury to replace Brice Mach and Louis Picamoles reinstated at flanker in place of Sebastien Vahaamahina. France won its opening two matches of the tournament but then lost 27-6 at Wales before edging past Scotland in another error-strewn performance lacking in creativity. "If I have to take the blame for it then so be it, but leave my players out of it," Saint-Andre said. France was previously dominant in the scrum but has struggled to get to grips with rule changes and has also been ineffective in the lineouts. "The problem rests with us, we have to concentrate on our throws and our jumps," No. 8 Damien Chouly said. "We must be more demanding of ourselves and each other." Saint-Andre said that Picamoles and Chouly will switch positions during the match. ------ France: Brice Dulin, Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Gael Fickou, Maxime Medard, Remi Tales, Maxime Machenaud; Damien Chouly, Alexandre Lapandry, Louis Picamoles, Yoann Maestri, Pascal Pape (captain), Nicolas Mas, Dimitri Szarzewski, Thomas Domingo. Reserves: Guilhem Guirado, Vincent Debaty, Rabah Slimani, Alexandre Flanquart, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Wenceslas Lauret, Jean-Marc Doussain, Maxime Mermoz. Eric Dickerson Rams Jersey .com) - P.K. Subbans power-play goal 4:08 into overtime sent the Montreal Canadiens into the All-Star break with a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Kurt Warner Youth Jersey .Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. http://www.footballramsshop.us/authentic-taylor-rapp-rams-jersey/ . So much so that even a simple foul pop up to the first baseman turned into a run. Houstons four-run rally in the ninth inning to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Monday night was capped by a bizarre play that started as Crowe fouled out to first baseman Justin Smoak with runners on second and third. Gerald Everett Rams Jersey .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Joe Namath Womens Jersey .C. -- Marcus Paige and his North Carolina teammates have endured so many wild swings -- big wins, surprising losses, NCAA drama -- that no one can blame their Hall of Fame coach for wondering whats next.December looms for the Dallas Cowboys. The Boys are in the top spot in the NFC East as the calendar turns toward Christmas and now all they have to do is finish things, starting tonight in Chicago where Dallas faces off with a Bears team minus its leaders on both offense and defense, quarterback Jay Cutler and linebacker Lance Briggs. Watch the action unfold live on TSN, with coverage beginning with Monday Night Countdown at 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt. Heres the problem, though. Dallas is just 13-17 in the month of December since Tony Romo took over as the teams starting quarterback in 2006, and Romo himself is 11-15 as a starter with some high-profile missteps. "Weve always known that what they remember is what you do in December," Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones said this week when talking about his teams troubles in December. "We need to change that. That was our goal this year. And weve got a chance to do something about it this year." A 3-1 November has the Cowboys tied with Philadelphia in the NFC East but the Cowboys currently hold the tie breaker thanks to a 17-3 win in Philadelphia back on Oct. 20 and a perfect 4-0 division mark. A Week 17 matchup with the Eagles in Dallas still remains on the schedule, however. The Cowboys have had extra time to prepare for Chicago after coming back to win their annual Thanksgiving Day affair. Romo threw for 225 yards and a score on Turkey Day this year, while DeMarco Murray joined elite company with his career-best three-touchdown performance, as Dallas took down Oakland, 31-24. Murray joined Emmitt Smith as the only Cowboys running backs to accumulate three rushing touchdowns on Thanksgiving Day, totaling 63 yards on 17 carries. Romo completed 23-of-32 passes, including a third-quarter TD pass to Dez Bryant, who racked up 61 yards on seven receptions. Lance Dunbar totaled 82 yards on 12 attempts before leaving the game late with a left knee injury. "We did start slow, but its getting to that point where there is no panic anymore," said Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr. The Bears werent so lucky in Week 13, losing a tough 23-20 overtime decision to NFC North-rival Minnesota when Blair Walsh hit a 34-yard field goal with 1:43 left in the extra frame. Alshon Jeffery broke his own team record with 249 receiving yards on 12 catches -- two of which went for touchdowns -- for the Bears, who have dropped their past two games and are a full game behind the Detroit Lions for the top spot in the division, a predicament made even worse by the fact that the Lions have already swept the Bears this season. "Weve got to put up a win in the win column," quarterback Josh McCown said. "The standings dont matter if you dont win football games." McCown was 23-for-36 for 355 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings, while Matt Forte carried the ball 23 times for 120 yards for Chicago. "I was really proud of the effort in all three phases of the game," said Chicago head coach Marc Trestman. "But as hard as we played, we didnt play hard enough to win. We just didnt get it done." Trestman took plenty of heat for a strange decision in overtime, deciding to let the ever-reliable Robbie Gould attempt a potential game-winning 47-yard field goal attempt on second down. Gould missed his chance wide right and the Vikings went the other way for the win. "I didnt do it from an analytics standpoint. I did it from having been around Robbie the entire year and knowing how he kicks the ball," Trestman said of Gould, whose field goal percentage of 85.8 ranks third-highest in NFL history dating back to 1938. Dallas leads its all-time series with the Bears by a slim 11-10 margin but the Bears have won the last two meetings, including a 34-18 win in Dallas back on Oct. 1, 2012 when the defense recorded five interceptions, with two returned for TDs (by Briggs and Charles&nbbsp;Tillman, two players who wont be available in this one for Chicago.dddddddddddd) The teams havent met in the Second City since a Sept. 23, 2007 affair won by the Cowboys 34-10. WHAT TO WATCH FOR McCowns solid play has masked any desire to push Cutler back too quickly from his latest problem, a balky left ankle. McCown has been rock solid in six games (four starts,) completing 65.2 percent of his passes for 1,462 yards with nine touchdowns against one interception while compiling a 103.6 rating, far better than Cutlers 88.4. All that said though the Bears clearly miss Cutlers ability to extend plays and make something out of nothing, a trait McCown really does not possess. Still McCown has been able to get the football to the Bears dynamic receiving duo of Brandon Marshall and Jeffery, whose 2,099 combined receiving yards are the most of any duo in the NFL entering Week 14. Those two, along with tight end Martellus Bennett, who has 48 catches for 545 yards and five TDs, could be an untenable matchup for a Dallas secondary allowing 294.9 yards a game through the air, second-worst in the NFL. Marshall, though, has been impressed by Carr, Dallas best defensive back. "I dont like playing against Brandon Carr," Marshall said. "He presents a lot of tough challenges throughout a game. Youll notice he changes up his game when he plays against bigger receivers. Hes strong. Hes physical. He plays that way against guys like myself. I absolutely hate the matchup. Its like playing chess out there with him. Every single play is a battle. He just makes you work so hard." The Cowboys defense also figures to get a boost from the return of middle linebacker Sean Lee, perhaps the units best all-around player, who has missed the last two weeks with a strained hamstring. The Bears defense has remained opportunistic with 15 interceptions, but the teams run-stopping ability is virtually non-existent. Chicago is giving up 205.2 rushing yards a contest and nearly six yards a clip on every run over its past six games. That poor play basically coincides with the loss of Briggs to a shoulder injury and veteran middle linebacker DJ Williams to a season-ending pectoral problem. Dallas, though, has an offense heavily tilted toward the pass to begin with and will be without Dunbar, who is expected to miss the rest of the season after being diagnosed with a torn posterior lateral corner in his knee. "Theres a whole lot of football to be played," Trestman said. "Weve got to start on Monday night and do that. That was the message: Lets worry about what we can control and thats being at our best on Monday night against the Cowboys." This game will also mark the first time Bears defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff, who was signed Nov. 6, will face his former team. Ratliff, a four-time Pro Bowler in Dallas when he called himself Jay, left North Texas on bad terms. He never played a down for the Cowboys after signing a $40 million extension, with $18 million of that guaranteed, due to a groin injury. "To me its just another game," Ratliff said Thursday after practice. "As they say, theyre moving on, so have I, and thats the end of it." OVERALL ANALYSIS A trend is a trend until it stops being a trend and the Cowboys December struggles arent going away until Dallas makes them go away. This is a perfect opportunity to start that process on the road in a hostile environment with potential weather issues. A Bears team with Cutler, Briggs and Tillman beats the Cowboys in this spot but one without its key playmakers simply cant be allowed. "You hear me say this all the time, but were focused on winning one game," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "We want to play one good ballgame. Thats really what were focused on. Well let everyone else figure out what the history of the world is." Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Cowboys 21, Bears 16 ' ' '
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