RWC 2015: Teams up for Ireland v Italy

Joe Schmidt has made 11 changes to the side who defeated Romania 44-10 ahead of Ireland’s first real World Cup test against Italy at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday.

A strong line-up has been named, with Ulster’s Iain Henderson making his second start of the World Cup alongside Ulster and Ireland veterans, Rory Best and Tommy Bowe. Chris Henry is the fourth Ulsterman to be included in Ireland’s plans for the Italians and makes up the back-row cover on the bench.

Connacht’s Robbie Henshaw will make his World Cup debut at inside centre with Munster’s Keith Earls joining him at outside, after an impressive man-of-the-match performance against Romania last weekend. This will be another new-look centre pairing for Ireland with Ulster’s Jared Payne ruled out by a bruised foot.

Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray return as Ireland’s half-back partnership, with Dave Kearney and Bowe completing the wings to link with Simon Zebo at full-back. Rob Kearney is missing because of a slight . . .

You will need to log in or register to read the rest of this article. If you have not already registered you can click here to register.

In 2022 we added 102,631 new images in 510 galleries with a gallery breakdown of 263 Rugby, 217 Hockey and 30 Athletics. Your registration and subscription will help us to continue.

Thanks.


Corrections, comments or questions?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.