Farrell reshuffles Ireland after late injury blow
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Ireland has been dealt a late injury blow as Tommy O’Brien was named in the starting line-up for the Triple Crown showdown with Scotland.
Andy Farrell has made three changes to the Irish pack as James Ryan has been ruled out of Saturday’s Six Nations clash due to a calf injury.
Captain Caelan Doris leads Ireland into the Round Five showdown.
Jamie Osborne, Rob Baloucoune, and Tommy O’Brien start in Ireland’s back three, with Stuart McCloskey and Garry Ringrose once again named in the midfield, while Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Crowley link up in the half-backs.
In the pack, Tom O’Toole, Dan Sheehan, and Tadhg Furlong are named in the front row, with Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne in the engine room.
Jack Conan is named to start at blindside flanker, Josh van der Flier at openside, and captain Doris completes Ireland’s starting team at number eight.
Farrell has strong options on the bench as Rónan Kelleher, Michael Milne, Finlay Bealham, Darragh Murray – who is in line for his Six Nations debut and Nick Timoney make up the forward replacements, with Craig Casey, Ciaran Frawley, and Bundee Aki the backline reinforcements.
Andy Farrell said: “It is an incredible privilege for the squad to play at home in front of a packed Aviva Stadium with a trophy up for grabs. We know about the challenge facing us on Saturday, and Scotland will travel with confidence.
“You’ll see two teams who like to attack, and we’ll look to implement our game plan to get the performance that we want. When you factor in a loud home support, and with the game taking place on St Patrick’s weekend, it really has all the ingredients for a cracking contest.”
Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Tommy O’Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Tom O’Toole.
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Bundee Aki.
Date: Saturday, March 14
Venue: AVIVA Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 14.10 (14.10 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)
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