Earls to win 100th cap off the bench while Beirne and O’Mahony start for Ireland

Earls, who made his Ireland debut against Canada in November 2008, is set to become the ninth Ireland player to reach the landmark,

Head Coach Andy Farrell has named the Ireland Match Day Squad for Saturday’s Bank of Ireland Nations Series clash against England at Aviva Stadium (Kick-off 5.30pm, live on RTÉ 2 and Amazon Prime).

James Ryan will captain Ireland in the final home match before the Rugby World Cup, while Keith Earls is in line to win his 100th Test cap in green should he feature off the replacements bench.

Earls, who made his Ireland debut against Canada in November 2008, is set to become the ninth Ireland player to reach the landmark, following in the footsteps of Brian O’Driscoll (133), Ronan O’Gara (128), Cian Healy (124), Rory Best (124), Johnny Sexton (113), Paul O’Connell (108), John Hayes (105) and Conor Murray (105).

Earls is one of five Munster men in the squad for Saturday’s Test. Peter O’Mahony and Tadhg Beirne start in the pack with Earls, Murray, Jeremy Loughman and Jack Crowley amongst the replacements.

Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and James Lowe make up the Ireland starting back three, with Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose also set for their first appearances of the Bank of Ireland Nations Series in midfield. Leinster pair Ross Byrne and Jamison Gibson-Park start in the half-backs.

In the pack, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong start in the front row, with Beirne joining Ryan, who captains Ireland for the eighth time on Saturday, in the second row. O’Mahony starts at blindside flanker, with Josh van der Flier at openside and Cian Prendergast set for his first Ireland start at number eight.

Farrell has strong options across the bench, with Rob Herring, Loughman and Finlay Bealham providing the front row reinforcements. Joe McCarthy and Caelan Doris will look to make big impacts when called upon, while the Munster trio of Murray, Crowley and centurion in waiting Earls complete the Match Day 23.

Saturday’s match is live on RTÉ2 and Amazon Prime, while there are a limited number of tickets available to buy via Ticketmaster here.

Ireland (v England):

(Province/Club/Caps)

15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD)(30)
14. Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians)(14)
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD)(50)
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians)(46)
11. James Lowe (Leinster)(20)
10. Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD)(19)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(25)

1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD)(53)
2. Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne)(17)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf)(66)
4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne)(39)
5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD)(captain)(53)
6. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution)(94)
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD)(50)
8. Cian Prendergast (Connacht/UCD)(2)

Replacements:

16. Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch)(35)
17. Jeremy Loughman (Munster/Garryowen)(1)
18. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers)(30)
19. Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin University)(2)
20. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(29)
21. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen)(105)
22. Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution)(4)
23. Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster)(99).