Ireland have made three alterations for their final Six Nations game against Wales at the Principality Stadium at 14 45 on Saturday.
The visitors know that a win coupled with anything less than a win for England against Scotland will see them retain their title but will face an unchanged Welsh side searching for a Grand Slam.
Ireland’s front-three remains the same as last week with Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong knuckling down alongside captain Rory Best, who will make his 64th and last Six Nations appearance for Ireland.
Tadhg Beirne replaces Iain Henderson in the second-row to make his debut in the competition, with Henderson dropping out of the 23, while last weekend’s man of the match James Ryan retains his place.
There is one change in the back-row too as Sean O’Brien comes in to replace the injured Josh Van Der Flier. He is joined by Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander.
Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton line-up in the half-backs once more, with Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose outside them in the centre.
Jacob Stockdale and Keith Earls continue on the wings, as a fit again Rob Kearney takes the place of Jordan Larmour to complete the XV.
There is a huge amount of strength for the men in green on the bench too with Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Quinn Roux, Jack Conan, Kieran Marmion, Jack Carty and Larmour all ready to go.
Here’s the Ireland team for the final round of the @SixNationsRugby Championship.#TeamOfUs #WALvIRE #ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/Y1KZDYfb7Y
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) March 14, 2024
Speaking ahead of the clash head coach Joe Schmidt described Ireland’s unfortunate run of injuries as a positive as he has got to try out other players.
“It’s just a case of slotting people in and as I’ve said all through the Six Nations, it’s been a really positive challenge for us to see if we can mix and match players and still try to get some cohesion,” he said.
The hosts have named an unchanged squad to
the one that defeated Scotland 18-11 last Saturday.
That means that it’s Rob Evans, Ken Owens
and Tomas Francais in the front-row, with Adam Beard and captain Alun Wyn Jones
pairing up behind them in the second-row.
Josh Navidi, Justin Tupuric and Ross
Moriarty complete the pack from the back-row.
Gareth Davies is at scrum-half, with Gareth
Anscombe at 10. Hadleigh Parkes and Jonathan Davies continue in the centre,
with Josh Adams and George North on the wings and Liam Williams at 15.
The replacements are Elliot Dee, Dillion
Lewis, Nicky Smith, Jake Ball, Aaron Wainwright, Aled Davies, Dan Biggar and
Owen Watkin.
Head coach Warren Gatland explained that he
hasn’t made any changes as he believes these players have earned their place.
“We’ve named an unchanged squad and rewarded the players for the last couple of outings and the last couple of victories. These players are on a very good run, they are a hugely impressive group and they deserve to be going into the final weekend with everything to play for,” he said.
Wales will be looking to seal a grand slam
when the reigning champions come to town on Saturday but will face a
rejuvenated Irish side holding on to the slim hope of retaining their title.
For both teams it will be their final Six
Nations match under their respective coaches with both seeking to end on a
high. Especially Schmidt, who is aiming to win his first game against the Welsh
in Cardiff on his third and final attempt for Ireland.
The stakes couldn’t be higher heading into
the last round of fixtures and with things coming to an end on more than one
front it should be a cracker of a game.
