Scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park has been handed the No 9 jersey as Ireland bid to seal the Six Nations Grand Slam by beating England in Dublin on Saturday.
Gibson-Park had missed the first three matches due to injury but he gets the nod ahead of veteran Conor Murray as he looked sharp when he came on for the second half of last week’s win over Scotland.
Gibson-Park had in any case replaced Murray as first-choice prior to the Six Nations although the latter has impressed. He teams up with his Leinster teammate and skipper Johnny Sexton, who will be making his 60th and final Six Nations appearance.
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The 37-year-old will be hoping for a dream curtain call of becoming the tournament’s all-time points scorer – he is level with compatriot Ronan O’Gara on 557 points – and the first Ireland captain to seal an Irish Grand Slam in Dublin. The other three have come in Belfast (1948), Cardiff (2009) and Twickenham (2018).
Aside from Gibson-Park Farrell brings in lock Ryan Baird for the injured Iain Henderson and Robbie Henshaw lines up alongside Bundee Aki in the centres with Garry Ringrose ruled out.
Both hooker Dan Sheehan and outstanding No 8 Caelan Doris have recovered from injuries which forced them off in the Scotland game, while World Player of the Year Josh van der Flier will win his 50th cap.
Ireland will start as hot favourites with England arrving on the back of a record 53-10 hammering at Twickenham by France last Saturday.
However, the English will hope to ruin Ireland’s day just as the hosts did theirs on three occasions, denying them the Grand Slam on the final day in 2001, 2011 and 2017.
Our line up for Super Saturday at the Aviva! ?#TeamOfUs | #GuinnessSixNations
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) March 16, 2023
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