Ireland’s third warm-up game for the Rugby World Cup takes place against Wales this Saturday, at 2.30pm (UK time) in the Aviva Stadium.
It is Ireland’s second match against Wales in the warm-up series, with Ireland beating Wales 35-21 on August 8.
Jonny Sexton has been picked at out-half, and it will be his first appearance in the warm-up series. Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Rob Kearney will also make their first appearances, while Cian Healy is still recovering from injury and so will miss out again.
Kearney is joined by his brother in the back three with David Kearney making his first start on the wing since the 2014 win against France. The other wing is Keith Earls, who scored a great try against Wales in the opening match of this warm-up series, while picked as a centre.
Luke Fitzgerald is selected in the centre, along with Robbie Henshaw. It is Fitzgerald’s first start in the centre since 2008 (he played on the wing against Wales three weeks ago). If Fitzgerald makes the World Cup squad, it will be his first World Cup for Ireland, having missed out on selection in 2007 and 2011.
In the forwards, O’Mahony makes his first appearance of the series. He lines up with Jaimie Heaslip and Jordi Murphy in the back row. Paul O’Connell and Iain Henderson are the second rows and O’Connell will captain the team in his last international game at the Aviva Stadium (he is set to retire at the end of the World Cup).
Nathan White makes his first start for Ireland, the other prop is Jack McGrath, and Richard Strauss will play as hooker. It is a strong team, with some strong support on the bench, including Sean Cronin, Donnacha, Sean O’Brien and Paddy Jackson, while Tadhg Furlong looks set to make his Test debut.
Andrew Trimble and Tommy Bowe will line up for Ulster on Friday, against Edinburgh. Bowe, especially, has yet to hit full form and will want every chance to impress.
Wales have picked an even stronger team for the match. Wales actually beat Ireland in last season’s Six Nations 23-16, in what was Ireland’s only defeat so far this year. George North makes his welcome return to the Welsh team after being out for an extended period due to concussion.
This will be Ireland’s toughest match so far of this warm-up series, and may even see the country’s first defeat. Wales should be vastly improved from the team that lost the match three weeks ago (though that team had a much more experimental look to it. This team is very close to being Wales’ full strength line-up).
Ireland
15. Rob Kearney, 14. Dave Kearney, 13. Luke Fitzgerald, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. Keith Earls, 10. Jonathan Sexton, 9. Conor Murray, 8. Jamie Heaslip, 7. Jordi Murphy, 6. Peter O’Mahony, 5. Paul O’Connell (c), 4. Iain Henderson, 3. Nathan White, 2. Richardt Strauss, 1. Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16. Sean Cronin, 17. Dave Kilcoyne, 18. Tadhg Furlong, 19. Donnacha Ryan, 20. Sean O’Brien, 21. Eoin Reddan, 22. Paddy Jackson, 23. Felix Jones
Wales
15. Leigh Halfpenny, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. Scott Williams, 12. Jamie Roberts, 11. George North, 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Rhys Webb, 8. Taulupe Faletau, 7. Justin Tipuric, 6. Dan Lydiate, 5. Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4. Bradley Davies, 3. Tomas Francis, 2. Ken Owens, 1. Gethin Jenkins
Replacements: 16. Scott Baldwin, 17. Paul James, 18. Aaron Jarvis, 19. Luke Charteris, 20. James King, 21. Gareth Davies, 22. Rhys Priestland, 23. Hallam Amos
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