Declan Kidney has chosen Jamie Heaslip as his captain in a new-look Ireland team to face South Africa on Saturday.
By Declan Whooley
With Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and Rory Best out injured, the issue of captaincy has been discussed at length over the past week and Kidney has placed his faith in the Leinster number eight. He will become the 101st captain of the Irish team and already has 50 international caps to his name.
The team will show a number of changes due to injuries. Richardt Strauss will make his debut at hooker and will face his cousin Adriaan opposite him on Saturday. Simon Zebo will make his first international start at full-back while Connacht’s Mike McCarthy will get a rare start at second row.
The back row has an unfamiliar look to it with captain Heaslip joined by Munster’s Peter O’Mahony and Ulster’s Chris Henry.
There are three uncapped players on the bench, with Iain Henderson, Dave Kilcoyne and Michael Bent all poised to make their international bows.
Ireland v South Africa, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, 5.30pm
Ireland XV: Simon Zebo; Tommy Bowe, Keith Earls, Gordon D’Arcy, Andrew Trimble; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross; Mike McCarthy, Donncha Ryan; Peter O’ Mahony, Chris Henry, Jamie Heaslip (c).
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Dave Kilcoyne, Michael Bent, Donncha O’Callaghan, Iain Henderson, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O’Gara, Fergus McFadden
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
