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Half-Back: Craig Casey, Sam Prendergast<\/p>\n
Another bold selection, but one that could work. Although none of Ireland\u2019s four primary half-backs are \u2018out of form\u2019; experimentation is needed.<\/p>\n
It would be beyond reckless not to hand one major start to Casey and Prendergast, with this being the ideal time to do so. With Gibson-Park and Crowley in reserve and set for the Springboks, this will get vital minutes into the former pair’s test legs and their combination.<\/p>\n
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Centre: Stuart McCloskey, Garry Ringrose<\/p>\n
The duo to be retained from Chicago, now seems like the time for Stuart McCloskey\u2019s to make the ’12’ jersey his own. His barnstorming showing at Soldier Field reminded everyone of his test level quality, and it would be only right and just if Farrell rewarded the \u2018Bangor bulldozer\u2019 with another start in this game.<\/p>\n
The number ’13’ jumper belongs to Garry Ringrose and he is likely to start if available. However, he is nursing a hamstring injury heading into the game.<\/p>\n
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Back-Three: James Lowe, Tommy O\u2019Brien, Jacob Stockdale<\/p>\n
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A change is guaranteed in the back three following Jamie Osborne\u2019s withdrawal from the squad due to injury, but the question is: who starts at 15?<\/p>\n
Jimmy O\u2019Brien stood in on Saturday and has played there a lot, but Jacob Stockdale could be the beneficiary this week. Mack Hansen is also in the frame for selection after his recall to the squad, although it remains to be seen whether he will be fit enough to start this weekend.<\/p>\n
James Lowe and the in-form Tommy O\u2019Brien look set to go again on the wings, rounding out the selection.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Replacements:<\/p>\n
Gus McCarthy, Andrew Porter, Tom Clarkson, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Josh van Der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park, Jack Crowley.<\/p>\n
The bench reverts to a 6\/2 split, with James Ryan, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan all selected. Gibson-Park and Crowley are entrusted to cover the backline.<\/p>\n
Josh van der Flier fitness is currently in doubt due to a hamstring issue, although we have included him on the bench for now.<\/p>\n
The most important area is that of the front row, as we ask Andrew Porter to sit still for the first time since an injury-hit 2022, while also giving chances to Gus McCarthy and Lion Tom Clarkson, who are in fine form.<\/p>\n
SEE ALSO:\u00a0Jackman Feels Unexpected Use Of Ireland Star Could Help Fix Glaring Team Issue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another week, another win; but with it raised more questions than it answered. Ireland\u2019s scrappy and stodgy disposal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-134880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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