Henshaw and O’Mahony to start against Wales

Robbie Henshaw and Peter O’Mahony come into the Ireland starting line-up to face Wales in the Six Nations at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, while Max Deegan could make his debut off the bench.

Centre Henshaw will play alongside Bundee Aki after Garry Ringrose suffered a hand injury during a 19-12 victory over Scotland on the opening day of the tournament last weekend.

O’Mahony gets an opportunity in the back row, with Caelan Doris ruled out due to the head injury he suffered on his debut in Dublin against Gregor Townsend’s Scots.

CJ Stander switches to number eight in the absence of Doris, with Josh van der Flier named at openside.flanker.

They are the only alterations to Ireland’s starting XV for the clash with the defending champions.

The uncapped Max Deegan and vastly experienced wing Keith Earls feature among the replacements named by head coach Andy Farrell, who stuck to his approach of making an early team announcement.

#TeamOfUs

Here’s the Ireland team to play Wales on Saturday.

2 changes and the uncapped Max Deegan on the bench.#ShoulderToShoulder #IREvWAL #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/qd8uIIQxF1

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 4, 2020

Ireland: Jordan Larmour, Andrew Conway, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Johnny Sexton (captain), Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rob Herring, Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson, James Ryan, Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, CJ Stander.

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Devin Toner, Max Deegan, John Cooney, Ross Byrne, Keith Earls.

KEO.co.za News wire is powered by opta