1
Henderson and O'Brien to start at Murrayfield
By Peter Thompson
Iain Henderson will start for Ireland against Scotland in the first game of the Six Nations on Saturday and Sean O'Brien has been passed fit.
Lock Henderson comes into the second row alongside Devin Toner, with Donnacha Ryan ruled out due to a knee injury.
Flanker O'Brien has recovered from a calf injury to join CJ Stander and Jamie Heaslip in the back row for the opener at Murrayfield.
Paddy Jackson has been named as fly-half by Joe Schmidt after Jonathan Sexton was ruled out with a calf problem.
Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose will form the centre pairing for an Ireland side who are second-favourites for the tournament behind defending champions England.
Munster hooker Niall Scannell is in line to win his cap from the bench, but his brother Rory misses out.
Ireland team: Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Simon Zebo, Paddy Jackson, Conor Murray; Jack McGrath, Rory Best (captain), Tadhg Furlong. Iain Henderson, Devin Toner, CJ Stander, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Cian Healy, John Ryan, Ultan Dillane, Josh van der Flier, Kieran Marmion, Ian Keatley, Tommy Bowe.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
3
Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
4
Scott Robertson responds about handling errors
5
Latest Comments
I think we need to get innovative with the new laws.
Now red cards are only 20 minutes, Razor should send Finau on a head hunting mission to hospitalise their 10 with a shoulder to the chops.
Give the conspiracy theorists a win.
Go to commentsEngland played well enough to win but couldnt score when they needed to and couldnt defend a couple of X-Factor moments from Telea which was ultimately the difference. They needed to hold the ball more and make the AB's make more tackles. Territorially they were good for the first 60. Defending their lead and playing pragmatic rugby in the last 20 was silly. The AB's always had the potential to come back. England still have a long way to go, definite progress would have been shown had they won but it seems they are still stuck where they were shortly after the six nations and their tour to NZ
Go to comments