| Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 19 August Kick-off: 17:30 BST |
| Coverage: Live text updates, match report and reaction on the BBC Sport website & app |
Cian Prendergast has been handed his first Ireland start as head coach Andy Farrell names a strong side for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match against England in Dublin.
Prendergast will start at number eight in a team very similar to that which sealed the Grand Slam in March.
Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose are the centre partnership with Ross Byrne starting at fly-half.
The starting XV from the win over Italy two weeks ago has completely changed.
That was the first of Ireland’s three warm-up games ahead of next month’s World Cup in France, with a meeting with Samoa in France to come next Saturday.
Second row James Ryan captains the side with wing Keith Earls in line to win his 100th Test cap in green should he feature off the replacements bench.
Eleven of the team that started the win over England in March – a victory which secured the Grand Slam title for Ireland – are named for Saturday evening’s encounter at the Aviva Stadium.
Connacht back rower Prendergast, 23, has played flanker for most of his career but has been selected at number eight after having made two previous Ireland appearances from the bench.
His chance at number eight comes after Jack Conan suffered a foot injury while playing in that position against Italy, an injury which prevented him going on last week’s training camp to Portugal.
With captain Johnny Sexton suspended for these three warm-up games, Byrne starts at fly-half after Jack Crowley, named on the bench this week, wore the number 10 shirt in the win over the Italians.
Hugo Keenan starts at full-back, with Mack Hansen and James Lowe on the wings and Jamison Gibson-Park at scrum-half. Stuart McCloskey and Robbie Henshaw were the centres against Italy, though neither are named among the replacements.
Munster prop Jeremy Loughman was called into the Ireland squad earlier this week as cover for Dave Kilcoyne, who is resting an injury, and is named among the replacements while back-rower Conan continues his recovery from a foot injury.
Ulster’s Kieran Treadwell was among five players who were released from Ireland’s World Cup squad on Thursday.
Treadwell, who won the last of his 11 caps against England in March, drops out alongside Caolin Blade, Gavin Coombes, Calvin Nash and Jamie Osborne.
Ireland: Keenan; Hansen, Ringrose, Aki, Lowe; Byrne, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, Beirne, Ryan, O’Mahony, van der Flier, Prendergast.
Replacements: Herring, Loughman, Bealham, McCarthy, Doris, Murray, Crowley, Earls.
