Johnny Sexton starts in strong Ireland side

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Ireland's Johnny Sexton gets away from England's Henry Slade during the Guinness Six Nations match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.

Fly-half Johnny Sexton will make his first start in Ireland’s final World Cup warm-up against Wales in Dublin on Saturday.

Sexton makes his first international appearance since the Six Nations and is joined in the half-backs by Conor Murray.

Meanwhile, Ireland captain Rory Best will win his 120th cap on his last appearance at the Aviva Stadium.

The game also marks the final match for head coach Joe Schmidt on Irish soil.

Best, who will retire after the Rugby World Cup, leads a much changed Ireland team against Wales in the final Guinness Series Test of the summer.

Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong join the Ireland captain in the front-row with James Ryan and Jean Kleyn packing down in the second-row.

Jack Conan starts at number eight with CJ Stander coming into the back-row at blindside and Josh van der Flier named at openside.

In midfield, Bundee Aki starts at 12 with Robbie Henshaw coming in at 13.

Keith Earls is also back on the left wing with Jordan Larmour on the right and Rob Kearney at full-back.

Sean Cronin is in line to win his 70th cap as he is named in the replacements. He is joined by Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Iain Henderson and Rhys Ruddock as the forward cover. Luke McGrath, Jack Carty and Garry Ringrose are the replacement backs.

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Jean Kleyn, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Garry Ringrose

Date: Saturday, September 7
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 14:00 BST (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

Ireland