Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has announced his 23-man squad for his team’s Six Nations clash against Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday at 14 15.
There are two changes to the side that defeated Scotland 19-12 last weekend with Peter O’Mahony and Robbie Henshaw replacing Caelan Doris and Garry Ringrose respectively after the latter duo picked up injuries during that game.
On the bench there is also the inclusion of one uncapped player with Leinster starlet Max Deegan set to make his debut for the boys in green.
Meanwhile, in the front-row it’s as you were as Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong start either side of hooker Rob Herring, while Iain Henderson and James Ryan slot into the second-row.
In the back-row comes O’Mahony in to play at blindside-flanker, with Josh van der Flier at openside and CJ Stander changes position to open the game from No8 and complete the forward pack.
Conor Murray links up with captain Johnny Sexton in the half-backs once again, with Bundee Aki and Henshaw outside them in the midfield pairing.
Jacob Stockdale takes his place on the left-wing, with Andrew Conway on the right and Jordan Larmour finishes off the starting line-up from full-back.
Farrell has plenty of experience to call upon from the bench with the likes of Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Devin Toner and Keith Earls joining the uncapped Deegan among the replacements.
Speaking ahead of the game scrum-half Murray admitted that the team need to improve from their performance last weekend against Scotland as they take on the reigning Grand Slam holders.
“This weekend against Wales we want to play better than we did last weekend and show a little bit more,” he said.
Ireland and Wales head into the game on the back of opening round wins over Scotland and Italy respectively and both will need to be at the top of their game to come out on top and keep alive hopes of winning the tournament and even the Grand Slam.
Check Out the Full 23-Man Squad Below.
Starting XV:
15. Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 22 caps
14. Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 19 caps
13. Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 41 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 24 caps
11. Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 26 caps
10. Jonathan Sexton (St Marys College/Leinster) 89 caps Captain
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 79 caps
1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 96 caps
2. Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 9 caps
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 42 caps
4. Iain Henderson (Academy/Ulster) 54 caps
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 24 caps
6. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 65 caps
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 24 caps
8. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 38 caps
Replacements:
16. Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster) 1 cap
17. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 37 caps
18. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 24 caps
19. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 68 caps
20. Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 0 caps
21. John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 9 caps
22. Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) 4 caps
23. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 82 caps
