Thursday 23 June 2016 17:14, UK
Joe Schmidt is confident his much-changed Ireland team can secure a series win over South Africa on Saturday in Port Elizabeth.
Schmidt has made six personnel changes and one positional switch to his starting XV for the series decider against the Springboks.
Jared Payne (calf) has been ruled out, while Robbie Henshaw (knee) has already left the squad. In come Keith Earls, Mike Ross and Jordi Murphy, who had been rested, while CJ Stander returns after serving his one-match ban.
Tiernan O'Halloran will make his first international start, with Ulster pair Stuart Olding and Luke Marshall partnering up in the centre.
"I'm utterly confident that they'll make me and themselves proud," he said.
"They'll make sure that Ireland feel proud of them because that's the way they commit to going about their work and I've no doubt that they'll be no different than it has been in the last two Tests.
"Yes, it's been a long season, people are tired and that's going to maybe detract from people being at their optimum but, at the same time, I don't think too many people will detect that because what they don't have in fresh reserves of energy, they'll make up for it with the full commitment they make to doing the job that they do."
The inclusion of Matt Healy and Eoin Reddan on Ireland's bench means that all of the travelling party will have had some involvement in the match-day squads during the three-Test series.
"There's a few that were rested last weekend and come back in," Schmidt added.
"One of the things that we wanted to do was to involve as many as players as possible on tour. It means that everybody will have been in a match-day 23 and I think that's exciting for the players that have come away.
"We have 32 players, obviously with Robbie Henshaw heading back we have 31 still available to us.
"Jared Payne has still got a bit of tightness in his calf. We're just not prepared to risk further injury if we put him out there.
"So, at the same time, it's a great opportunity for Tiernan O'Halloran and for Matt Healy to come in on the bench.
"You couldn't get a more exciting opportunity than being over here in a Test decider to stop up and be involved in your first start or you first opportunity off the bench."
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