Ireland star ruled out of quarterfinal against the All Blacks
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has named his matchday squad for Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal against the All Blacks in Saint-Denis.
After progressing through to the last eight as Pool B winners, Farrell has revealed an unchanged starting team from last weekend’s victory over Scotland.
However, there are some changes to the bench as lock James Ryan is ruled out with a wrist injury.
Ryan is replaced by Joe McCarthy. The other change to the bench sees Jimmy O’Brien come in for Stuart McCloskey.
The good news for Ireland is that Mack Hansen has been passed fit and he again forms a back three with Hugo Keenan and James Lowe, who has recovered from his eye injury.
Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki are retained in the midfield. Captain Johnny Sexton and Jamison Gibson-Park once again form the halfback pairing.
In the pack, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong are in the front row, as Tadhg Beirne partners Iain Henderson in the engine room.
Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris complete the Ireland starting team.
On the bench, Ronan Kelleher, Dave Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham, McCarthy and Jack Conan provide the reinforcements in the pack, with Conor Murray, Jack Crowley and O’Brien – in line for his World Cup debut – completing the matchday 23.
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (captain), 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Jimmy O’Brien.
Date: Saturday, October 14
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Kick-off: 21.00 (19.00 GMT; 20 UK & Ireland time; 08.00 Sunday, October 15 NZDT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)
