Ireland have made six changes to their starting XV as they take on Italy in Round Three of the Six Nations at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
James Ryan will captain the team and it will be the seventh occasion that he takes the armband. He will be partnered in the second-row by Iain Henderson, who makes his first start for Ireland since the final game of last year’s Championship against Scotland.
Ronan Kelleher is retained at hooker having come off the bench against France in Round Two, with Andrew Porter and Finlay Bealham either side of him in the front-row.
Jack Conan gets the nod at eight
In the back-row, Jack Conan comes in at number eight with Caelan Doris switching to the blindside flank and Josh van der Flier at openside.
Craig Casey and Ross Byrne are set to make their first Six Nations starts and Bundee Aki is introduced to the midfield having started from the bench in the opening two rounds.
Veteran fly-half Johnny Sexton sustained a groin issue in the 32-19 victory over France, resulting in a rare Test start for Leinster team-mate Byrne.
Byrne, 27, has won 14 of his previous 16 caps as a replacement and spent 20 months in the international wilderness before returning to kick the decisive penalty in November’s win over Australia.
Garry Ringrose is set to make his 50th appearance for Ireland while the back three of Hugo Keenan, James Lowe and Mack Hansen is unchanged from the opening two rounds.
Dan Sheehan has returned to fitness to take his place among the replacements alongside Dave Kilcoyne, Tom O’Toole, Ryan Baird, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley and Stuart McCloskey.
On the call to name Ryan as skipper, head coach Andy Farrell was pleased with his decision and added that any number of his players could have stepped up.
“I feel we’re in a great place that we would be more than happy for a handful of players to captain the side,” he said. “James is the lucky one this weekend.
“But Garry Ringrose is an exceptional leader. I’m sure that he’ll be captain of Ireland one day. Peter O’Mahony, Iain Henderson, and more and more of those type of players.”
Sitting pretty at the summit
Ireland are currently sitting pretty atop the Six Nations standings after securing back-to-back bonus-point wins before the fallow week saw the teams take a break.
Meanwhile, the Azzurri are in fifth place after suffering successive losses but are one point ahead of basement side Wales thanks to picking up a losing bonus-point.
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan (c), 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Stuart McCloskey
Click Here: cheap converse men low top shoes
Date: Saturday, February 25
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick-off: 15:15 local (14:15 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)