7 changes for Ireland against Wales, debut cap for Lowe
Andy Farrell has named uncapped James Lowe in an Ireland XV to face Wales on Friday night that shows seven changes from the Six Nations title-losing defeat to France on October 31.
New Zealander Lowe recently qualified under the three-year residency rule and he will now hope to bring his potency with Leinster - 33 tries in 49 matches - into the Test level arena when Ireland begin their four-match Autumn Nations Cup campaign at Aviva Stadium.
The inclusion of Lowe on the left wing has resulted in Hugo Keenan switching to the right wing, with Andrew Conway losing out. Jacob Stockdale holds on at full-back despite his troubled form at the Stade de France.
While it was anticipated that Lowe would debut against the Welsh, less predicted was the dropping of Bundee Aki and Conor Murray, two mainstays of the Joe Schmidt era inherited at the start of 2020 by promoted coach Farrell.
Robbie Henshaw switches from outside centre to Aki's No12 jersey, with Chris Farrell, a replacement in France, in at No13. Jamison Gibson-Park, another Kiwi who qualified under residency, made his debut off the bench in last month's win over Italy and he now stars alongside Johnny Sexton in place of Murray.
In the pack, Ronan Kelleher comes in for a first Test start alongside Leinster teammates Cian Healy and Andrew Porter while Iain Henderson is back from suspension and replaces Tadhg Beirne at lock.
An altered back row sees Peter O'Mahony and Josh van der Flier recalled with Caelan Doris moving to No8. Will Connors and CJ Stander lose out.
The uncapped Billy Burns will be looking to win his first cap as he named in the replacements alongside Murray and the returning Keith Earls. The replacement forwards are Dave Heffernan, Ed Byrne, Finlay Bealham, Quinn Roux and Connors.
IRELAND (vs Wales, Friday)
15. Jacob Stockdale (Ulster/Lurgan) 30 caps
14. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 2 caps
13. Chris Farrell (Munster/Young Munster) 10 caps
12. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 45 caps
11. James Lowe (Leinster) uncapped
10. Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 93 caps (capt)
9. Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 2 caps
1. Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 100 caps
2. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 3 caps
3. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 28 caps
4. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 55 caps
5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 28 caps
6. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 69 caps
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 26 caps
8. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 4 caps
Replacements
16. Dave Heffernan (Connacht/Buccaneers) 3 caps
17. Ed Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 2 caps
18. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 11 caps
19. Quinn Roux (Connacht/Galwegians) 12 caps
20. Will Connors (Leinster/UCD) 2 caps
21. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 83 caps
22. Billy Burns (UIster) uncapped
23. Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 84 caps
Latest Comments
I don’t really care what the Ireland team did or didn’t say about the final and I’m an ABs supporter. However, what does AG know about it? He wasn’t there and he’s just making bold assumptions based on his imagination of how things rolled. Etzebeth was there on the field. It may have been misinterpreted, or not. You can have a fecking sense of many people are around you without asking them to raise their hands and be counted. You can call Etzebeth arrogant if you like but I’d say it’s less arrogant than someone who wasn’t there and had nothing to do with the situation declaring it’s BS.
Go to commentsEngland had to bed in their new defensive system while challenging for the 6N. The schedule allowed them to try and focus on defense for first 3 matches and then target Ireland (the pre tournament target match). A win in France would be a bonus.
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