Australia-born Hansen to make Ireland debut against Wales
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Andy Farrell has named the matchday 23 to kick start Ireland’s 2022 Six Nations Championship campaign against Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
The 23 includes one new cap and two players set to make their Championship debuts.
Johnny Sexton will captain the team on his 102nd cap for Ireland and his 53rd appearance in the Championship.
Sexton is joined at halfback by Jamison Gibson Park while Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose link up in the centre for a fifteenth time for Ireland.
The uncapped Connacht wing Mack Hansen lines out on the left wing with Andrew Conway on the right and Hugo Keenan at fullback starting his seventeenth consecutive Test match.
In the pack, the front row features Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong with Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan locking down the second row.
Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan are named in the back row.
In the replacements, James Hume and Dan Sheehan are set to make their Championship debuts.
They are joined on the bench by Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Joey Carbery.
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Johnny Sexton (captain), 9 Jamison Gibson Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 James Hume.
Date: Saturday, February 5
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 14.15 (14.15 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (France), Angus Gardner (Australia)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
📋 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
Presenting your Ireland Match Day squad for Saturday’s #GuinnessSixNations opener against Wales at a sold-out @avivastadium! 👊#TeamOfUs | #IREvWAL
ADVERTISEMENT— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 3, 2022
