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Henshaw at full-back not really a gamble as Ireland name their team

APART from the selection of Robbie Henshaw at full-back, there are no surprises on the Irish team to play England on Saturday in Ireland’s opening game of the Six Nations at the Aviva Stadium. Four Munster players, Keith Earls, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander start with two, Dave Kilcoyne (pictured) and Joey Carbery on the bench.
Ireland, as holders, may be fancied to win this tie but England will come to Dublin fully determined to get their 6N off to a winning start with an away victory. Once again Joe Schmidt has kept his faith in the tried and trusted and while Rob Kearney is a loss, Henshaw is more than capable of providing decent defence and counter-attacking from deep. Up front, the full eight are in rare form this season with big performances in the recent European games. This game is likely to be decided within the pack and Ireland will certainly not come up short.
Ireland:
15. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 36 caps
14. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 72
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 17
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 12
11. Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 14
10. Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 78 (vc)
9. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 67
1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 84
2. Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 113 (c)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 28
4. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 63
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 13
6. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 52 (vc)
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 13 caps
8. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 28
Replacements
16. Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 65
17. Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 24
18. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 11
19. Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 8
20. Sean O’Brien (Leinster/UCD) 52
21. John Cooney (Ulster/Terenure College) 4
22. Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster) 16
23. Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 9

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