Andy Farrell has restored the vast majority of the starting XV from the St Patrick’s Day Grand Slam coronation against England at the Aviva Stadium for next Saturday’s penultimate World Cup warm-up game against the same opponents and at the same venue (kick-off 5.30pm).
All told, Farrell has recalled 11 of the starting line-up from that memorable day last March, the most notable exception being at number eight, where Cian Prendergast is handed the number eight jersey for the first time with Caelan Doris held in reserve off the bench.
More familiar with the blindside role for Connacht, this full Irish debut after two caps off the bench affords the 23-year-old Prendergast an opportunity to showcase his versatility.
Ross Byrne starts at outhalf in the absence of the suspended Johnny Sexton, while Tadgh Beirne and Garry Ringrose – who were both sidelined for the Six Nations finale – are restored. Beirne suffered a leg injury in the second round win over France which ruled him out for the remainder of the Championship, while Ringrose suffered concussion in the penultimate win over Scotland.
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In choosing a completely changed starting XV from the win over Italy a fortnight ago, Farrell is giving seasonal bows to 11 of this side, as well as Jeremy Loughman, a recent addition to the squad, Finlay Bealham and Conor Murray on the bench.
Keith Earls is also named among the replacements, placing the Munster winger in line for his 100th cap on a day when Farrell has clearly targeted a winning send-off to the World Cup in this Irish side’s last game on home soil before the tournament.
“There are lessons learned from every game and one of the lessons from the Italy game was that we did pretty well as far as territory and possession and creating opportunities,” said Farrell of the 33-17 win over Italy a fortnight ago.
“But how clinical we were on the back of that is something that you need to be good at in the World Cup. Points matter, bonus points matter, so tidying that up is something that we are aware of.
“At the same time, it’s the first game for a lot of this group but no excuses, it’s a Test match at home against England, and a special one at that being Keith Earls’ 100th game.
“It’s an occasion where we want to be at our best because I feel that the last time we played against England here, it was a big match but I didn’t feel that we was,” added Farrell in reference to that 29-16 win over England last March.
“So taking a step forward in that regard as well is pretty important for us.”
Of Earls landmark day, Farrell admitted: “It gives us all a buzz. It’s such a privilege for us all within camp to be involved in such a special week for Keith and his family. He is a member of the squad that is so well respected throughout.
“Why? He’s a selfless person who keeps giving to others, there is no better man deserving of his 100th cap here at the Aviva, than Keith, against England. I just hope that the fans that are coming, along with us and our performance, make it a special day for him.”
For Ross Byrne, it is only a fourth Test start, and a third against England, having been thrown to the wolves for a record thrashing at Twickenham in the warm-up game four years ago, and in the Autumn Nations Cup behind closed doors at the same venue in November 2020.
“Oh yeah, there was too much made of that 100 per cent,” said Farrell of Byrne’s first start in August 2019. “There is a reason why your outhalf has a poor day at the office, it’s probably because your team didn’t function.
“I remember our lineout service that day wasn’t red hot for him which puts the 10 behind the eight ball anyway. Ross would have learned from those experiences and I’m sure with the experiences he has had over the last four years, he is delighted to get this opportunity to play this weekend.”
Reflecting on Ireland’s anxious and hard-earned victory over England to seal a Grand Slam in Dublin for the first time last March, when the sheer magnitude of the occasion affected the home performance, Farrell said:
“England brought a lot of chaos to our performance and probably to theirs as well. Their line speed was in your face, the set-piece is always going to be very hard to come up against.
“I thought we weren’t calm enough or clinical enough to play our game. There were opportunities and the challenge for us then, even though you were going for a Grand Slam was to take this opportunity to use it to grow as a team in the sense that we wanted to be at our best when it mattered most to us, you know, how calm could we be there.
“I thought we were a little bit jittery from time to time. We settled down eventually and got over the line but we took our learnings from that.”
Asked about the furore surrounding his son Owen’s rescinded red card and World Rugby’s ensuing appeal, which will lead to another hearing for the English captain early next week, Farrell initially reasoned: “What’s my thought on it? Does it really matter?”
He added: “Well, whatever I say anyway is probably flawed anyway because I know what you are talking about and when you’re talking about somebody’s son and you are asking me the question it’s always going to be flawed anyway so what does that really matter, you know.
“Probably, probably, you know, I don’t normally say too much because of that reason about my son what I probably would say is at this moment in time is that the circus that gone around all of this is absolutely disgusting, in my opinion, disgusting and I suppose those people who have loved their time in the sun get a few more days to keep going at that.”
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan (Leinster); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), James Lowe (Leinster); Ross Byrne (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Andrew Porter (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), James Ryan (Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Cian Prendergast (Connacht).
Replacements: Rob Herring (Ulster), Jeremy Loughman (Munster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster), Jack Crowley (Munster), Keith Earls (Munster).
