Iain Henderson hits 50 for Ireland
Ireland's Iain Henderson in action during the 2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A match at the International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama City. PA Photo. Picture date: Sunday September 22, 2019. See PA story RUGBYU Ireland. Photo credit should read: Adam Davy/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only. Strictly no commercial use or association. Still image use only. Use implies acceptance of RWC 2019 T&Cs (in particular Section 5 of RWC 2019 T&Cs) at: https://bit.ly/2knOId6
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has made four changes to his starting line-up to face Japan in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup clash in Shizuoka.
In the pack, Ulster utility forward Iain Henderson will win his 50th cap for Ireland and he is again partnered with James Ryan in the second-row. Henderson won his first cap against South Africa in 2012.
The pack remains unchanged to the one which started against Scotland in their Rugby World Cup opener last Sunday with Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong either side of captain Rory Best in the front-row, while Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier and CJ Stander start in the back-row.
Meanwhile, in the back-line, Rob Kearney and Keith Earls have recovered from injury and are included in the back three alongside Jacob Stockdale.
Garry Ringrose is joined by Chris Farrell as the preferred centre combination while Jack Carty will start at fly-half alongside scrum-half Conor Murray, with first-choice number 10 Jonathan Sexton rested after injuring his groin against Scotland.
Joe Schmidt has named a strong @IrishRugby team for Saturday’s Pool A match against hosts Japan in Shizuoka.@JackCarty10 starts at 10. While @KearneyRob and @KEITHEARLS87 get their first starts of #RWC2019#JPNvIRE pic.twitter.com/IL7hDMzDpy
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 26, 2019
Joey Carbery has recovered from injury and is named in the replacements alongside Jordan Larmour and Luke McGrath.
Sean Cronin is in line for his first appearance as he is included on the bench with Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Tadhg Beirne and Peter O’Mahony.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Chris Farrell, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour
Date: Saturday, September 28
Venue: Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa
Kick-off: 16:15 local (08:15 BST, 07:15 GMT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)