Ireland captain Rory Best will win his 120th cap on his last appearance at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 2pm).
The GUINNESS Summer Series game against Wales also marks the final match for Joe Schmidt on Irish soil. Best, who will retire after the Rugby World Cup, leads a team showing twelve changes to the one that started last week’s 22-17 win over Wales in Cardiff.
Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong join the Ireland captain in the front row with James Ryan and Jean Kleyn packing down in the second row.
Jack Conan starts at No. 8 with CJ Stander coming into the backrow at 6 and Josh van der Flier named at 7.
Jonathan Sexton makes his seasonal debut and is joined in the half backs by Conor Murray. Bundee Aki starts at 12 with Robbie Henshaw coming in at 13.
Keith Earls is also back, on the left wing with Jordan Larmour on the right and Rob Kearney at fullback.
Sean Cronin is in line to win his 70th cap as he is named in the replacements. He is joined by Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Iain Henderson and Rhys Ruddock as the forward cover. Luke McGrath, Jack Carty and Garry Ringrose are the replacement backs.
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Wales, 2019 GUINNESS Summer Series, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, September 7, kick-off 2pm):
Player/Club/Province/Caps –
15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 91
14. Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 15
13. Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 37
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 19
11. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 77
10. Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 83
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 73
1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 90
2. Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt) 119
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 35
4. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 18
5. Jean Kleyn (Munster) 2
6. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 32
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 18
8. Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 15
Replacements:
16. Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 69
17. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 30
18. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 17
19. Iain Henderson (Queen’s University/Ulster) 47
20. Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 22
21. Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 13
22. Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 6
23. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 23
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