Earls, Beirne and O’Mahony named from the start for World Cup opener

Head Coach Andy Farrell has named his Ireland Match Day Squad for Saturday’s RWC opener against Romania.

There are three Munster men named from the start for Ireland’s Rugby World Cup opener vs Romania this Saturday afternoon in Keith Earls, Tadhg Beirne and Peter O’Mahony.

There are three more amongst the bench where Conor Murray could appear in his fourth World Cup while it would be debuts on the biggest stage for Jeremy Loughman and Jack Crowley.

Kick off at the Stade de Bordeaux is 2.30pm Irish time/3.30pm local time.

Captain Jonathan Sexton returns to the Ireland starting team to lead the side against Romania, as Farrell’s men get their Pool B campaign underway in Bordeaux.

Hugo Keenan, Earls and James Lowe are named in the back three, with Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki paired in the Ireland midfield. Sexton captains the team as he resumes his half-back pairing with scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park.

In the pack, Andrew Porter, Rob Herring and Tadhg Furlong start in the front row, with Joe McCarthy – one of six players in the starting XV set for their Rugby World Cup debuts – partnering James Ryan in the second row.

Beirne is named at blindside flanker, with O’Mahony at openside and Caelan Doris at number eight.

Farrell has strong options among his bench with Rob Herring, Jeremy Loughman and Tom O’Toolethe front row reinforcements, Iain Henderson and Josh van der Flier covering the second and back row respectively, and Conor Murray, Jack Crowley and Robbie Henshaw providing the backline replacements.

Saturday’s match is live on Virgin Media One in the Republic of Ireland and ITV1 in the United Kingdom.

Ireland:

15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD)(31)

14. Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster)(100)

13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD)(52)

12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians)(47)

11. James Lowe (Leinster)(21)

10. Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(captain)(113)

9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(26)

1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD)(54)

2. Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch)(37)

3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf)(67)

4. Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin University)(3)

5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD)(55)

6. Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne)(41)

7. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution)(96)

8. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(31)

Replacements:

16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne)(21)

17. Jeremy Loughman (Munster/Garryowen)(3)

18. Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch)(11)

19. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy)(74)

20. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD)(52)

21. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen)(107)

22. Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution)(6)

23. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers)(65)