IrelandSix Nations champions, Ireland have made two changes to their starting line-up for their match against Australia at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

Veterans Gordon D’Arcy and Rory Best are the only two changes from the team that beat South Africa a fortnight ago.

D’Arcy, who will win his 81st cap, comes in at centre for the injured Jared Payne while Best, who will make his 78th appearance for Ireland, has recovered from injury to take his place at hooker, dropping Sean Cronin to the bench.

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Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, who has engineered a turnaround in Irish fortunes since replacing Declan Kidney after the 2013 Six Nations, opted for the hugely experienced 34-year-old D’Arcy ahead of Stuart Olding, despite the latter shining when he came on in the 49-7 victory over Georgia last week.

The only other change comes on the bench where Dave Foley, man of the match against Georgia, replaces Mike McCarthy, who has concussion, while Cronin’s demotion sees South Africa-born hooker Richardt Strauss drop out of the match day squad.

Ireland, who have risen to third in the IRB rankings for the first time in eight years, are bidding to claim the scalps of both the Wallabies and the Springboks in the same year for the first time since 2006.

 

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Rhys Ruddock, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Paul O’Connell (Captain), 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Tommy O’Donnell, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Felix Jones.

 

Date: Saturday 22 November
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-Off: 18:30 SA Time (16:30 BST & GMT, 03:30 Sunday AEST)
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

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