Brian O'Driscoll will make a timely return for Ireland against France in Dublin this weekend, as the Irish look for their first win in a four-match warm-up schedule, following defeats in Edinburgh and Bordeaux.

O'Driscoll has recovered from a neck injury and he will be joined in the side by another Lions centre, Gordon D'Arcy, who has not played since having an ankle operation in May, and the flanker David Wallace. The Lions blindside Stephen Ferris, who has been out for seven months after knee surgery, is on the bench.

The Leicester full-back Geordan Murphy, who missed the second half of last season with an ankle injury, will play for an Ireland XV against Connacht on Thursday, and he will be joined in that side by John Hayes, Leo Cullen, Paddy Wallace, Shane Jennings and Denis Leamy.

Ireland will be close to full strength against France. The Ospreys wing Tommy Bowe is a week away from recovering from a foot injury and the Leinster full-back Rob Kearney's absence with a groin strain gives Felix Jones a first start in the position. The Ireland coach, Declan Kidney, has used Keith Earls and Luke Fitzgerald at No15 but the Munsterman has been rewarded for impressive performances for his province last season.

O'Driscoll said: "Although I haven't been able to do a huge amount of contact during this pre-season, I've put myself in a position to make sure I'm doing everything up to that contact point. I've been working on things like footwork and being in the right place at ruck time. I'd like to be up to speed after three games, but I will feel a lot better after playing this weekend."

It will be Ireland's last match before their World Cup squad of 30 is named next week. They will then round off their preparations against England in Dublin on 27 August. O'Driscoll acknowledged that two more defeats would raise questions about Ireland's build-up, four years after they flopped in the 2007 World Cup.

"Winning is important but isn't the be all and end all," he said. "It's also about getting game time and coming up to speed. If we didn't win a warm-up game it wouldn't be ideal, but it's not the World Cup right now. That starts in three weeks. Let's focus on getting the best possible performance. We're going into the game with the attitude of really wanting to win it, so let's see what happens. Some guys will be making their first start so it's essentially about playing your way into the season. It's about making sure we have the proper mentality for the weekend. Our intensity and physicality need to be right."

The return of Ferris gives Kidney a dilemma, Sean O'Brien having established himself at blindside in the Six Nations.

"I am not sure how much game time Stephen will get on Saturday," Kidney said. "I hope he will get a good run. He has done well in training and the only injury worries about him at the moment concern the players he has been bumping into in training."

Felipe Contepomi will captain an experienced Argentina side against Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Contepomi is joined by Rodrigo Roncero, Mario Ledesma and Juan Fernández Lobbe as the Pumas prepare for a World Cup pool that includes England and Scotland.

Ireland (v France): Jones (Munster); Trimble (Ulster), B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy (both Leinster), K Earls (Munster); J Sexton (Leinster), T O'Leary (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Leinster), D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (both Munster), S O'Brien (Leinster), D Wallace (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster). Replacements: J Flannery (Munster), T Court (Ulster), M McCarthy (Connacht), S Ferris (Ulster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O'Gara (Munster), L Fitzgerald (Leinster).