Despite having lost only once in 11 games at Lansdowne Road over the past two years, the sixth-placed Irish are tipped to lose narrowly to France, an outcome which would spoil the chance of an Irish Grand Slam and avenging their Dublin defeat from 2001.
Meanwhile, struggling Scotland and Wales battle it out in a potential Wooden Spoon decider at Murrayfield on Saturday with Ian McGeechan's men tipped to come away with an 11-point win.
Elsewhere top ranked England are predicted to come away with a huge win over Italy on Sunday, stretching their winning Test run to nine as they record their 20th consecutive win at Twickenham.
Zurich Predictions for March 8/9:Ireland (6th) v France (4th) – France by 6 pointsScotland (7th) v Wales (9th) – Scotland by 11 pointsEngland (1st) v Italy (12th) – England by 63 points
