Joe Schmidt named his first Six Nations starting XV and the starting XV to face Scotland has its fair share of talking points.

Gordon D'Arcy's stomach bug sees Luke Marshall drafted in at inside centre. We were joined by future Grenoble coach Bernard Jackman who thinks Joe Schmidt will use it as an opportunity to blood young talent with the World Cup on the horizon.

"What you'll see over the course of this tournament is Joe giving guys opportunities. Part of his job remit is succession planning and we've been fortunate to have Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll dominate the 12 and 13 jerseys for Ireland and Leinster over the last ten or 12 years. We know Brian isn't going to be here for the next World Cup. Gordon more than likely will be," said Bernard.

"Joe has to make sure he has his depth chart. He's someone that believes that you can only judge a player on when he plays. He'll look to give those fringe guys game-time at the right moments. It's far better to play to do that in a home game against Scotland."

But Jackman expects D'Arcy to return for the Wales game and expects the likes of Marty Moore and Sean Cronin to get starting places at some stage of the tournament.

Andrew Trimble also earned a surprise place on the wing ahead of Fergus McFadden.

"Trimble has come in to do a job with Luke [Fitzgerald]'s injury. McFadden gives him more options on the bench. Fergus is short of game-time and covers the back three and centre really well," said Bernard who also thinks Simon Zebo could return to the squad after Rabo game-time if he "meets the criteria" in terms of performance. 

Bernard also expects to see Jamie Heaslip carrying more ball in Sean O'Brien's absence with Chris Henry playing a support role.

Image: Jamie Heaslip, Devin Toner, Paul O'Connell, Rory Best and Chris Henry ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan