Milestone for Peter O’Mahony as Ireland make two changes for crunch match with Scotland

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has named a strong matchday squad to take on Scotland in Saturday’s final Rugby World Cup Pool B clash at the Stade de France in Paris.

Following wins over Romania, Tonga and South Africa, Ireland have a chance to finish at the top of the pool if they secure a victory against Gregor Townsend‘s charges, and Farrell has made just two changes to his run-on side that beat South Africa in their previous match.

Peter O’Mahony joins special club

Peter O’Mahony is set to win his 100th cap for his country as he starts on the blindside flank, with the 34-year-old in line to become just the 10th Irish player to reach the landmark.

Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and James Lowe start in an unchanged Ireland back three, with Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki continuing as the centre combination. Meanwhile, captain Johnny Sexton partners Jamison Gibson-Park once again in the half-backs.

Up front, Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong pack down either side of Dan Sheehan in the front-row, while Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson are named in the engine room.

Sheehan and Henderson come into the run-on side to replace Ronan Kelleher and James Ryan, who have both been named among the replacements.

O’Mahony is joined in the back-row by Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris to complete the starting line-up.

The fit-again Jack Conan is in line for his first appearance of Rugby World Cup 2023 as he is named on the replacements bench, joining Kelleher, David Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham and Ryan as the forward replacements while Conor Murray, Jack Crowley and Stuart McCloskey provide backline cover.

The team

Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Stuart McCloskey

Date: Saturday, October 7
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 21:00 local (20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT)
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)

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