Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has made six changes to his starting XV to face Scotland in Dublin on Saturday in the Autumn Nations Cup. Johnny Sexton, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Cian Healy, Peter O'Mahony, Caelan Doris come in to start. Uncapped prop Eric O'Sullivan on the bench.
Thursday 3 December 2020 16:44, UK
Johnny Sexton, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki and Peter O'Mahony have returned to the Ireland starting XV for their final Autumn Nations Cup Test vs Scotland on Saturday.
Leinster pair Sexton and Henshaw start at fly-half and inside-centre respectively, both having not featured since Ireland's comprehensive 32-9 victory over Wales in the first round of Autumn Nations Cup fixtures last month due to injuries.
Munster's Peter O'Mahony comes back into the team at openside flanker, with his provincial team-mate CJ Stander moving to the blindside and Caelan Doris returning at No 8.
In other changes since Ireland's facile 23-10 victory over Georgia last time out, Leinster's Cian Healy returns at loosehead prop and Connacht's Bundee Aki partners Henshaw in midfield.
Elsewhere, Ulster hooker Rob Herring has won the battle with Leinster's Ronan Kelleher to start, Leinster's Andrew Porter starts his sixth game in successive weeks at tighthead, while Iain Henderson and James Ryan continue as the second row pairing.
Munster's Conor Murray keeps his place at scrum-half to start alongside Sexton, while the back-three is unchanged: Ulster's Jacob Stockdale at full-back, Munster's Keith Earls and Leinster's Hugo Keenan on the wings.
On the bench, Ulster loosehead Eric O'Sullivan is in line for his Test debut should he emerge onto the pitch, Connacht second row Quinn Roux is selected ahead of Munster's Tadhg Beirne, while Leinster flanker Josh van der Flier is involved again for the first time since the Wales Test.
Ireland: 15 Jacob Stockdale,14 Hugo Keenan, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray; 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rob Herring, 3 Andrew Porter, 4 Iain Henderson, 5 James Ryan (c), 6 CJ Stander, 7 Peter O'Mahony, 8 Caelan Doris.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Eric O'Sullivan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Chris Farrell.
