Jonathan Sexton has failed in his bid to beat Ronan O’Gara to the fly-half spot for Ireland’s one-off Test against New Zealand on Saturday.
The Leinster man was given the nod for the last three games of Ireland’s 6 Nations campaign but concerns over an infection in his mouth, close to where he underwent surgery for a broken jaw, saw him miss Friday’s game against the Barbarians.
Connacht’s Sean Cronin and John Muldoon meanwhile, who have just two caps each, have been handed starts for the upcoming clash in Yarrow Stadium.
Declan Kidney was forced to draft in a number of more inexperienced players due to injuries and withdrawals.
Ireland squad v New Zealand is as follows:
Rob Kearney (Leinster); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster); Ronan O’Gara (Munster), Tomas O’Leary (Munster); Cian Healy (Leinster), Sean Cronin (Connacht), John Hayes (Munster), Donncha O’Callaghan (Munster), Mick O’Driscoll (Munster), John Muldoon (Connacht), David Wallace (Munster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster).
Replacements: John Fogarty (Leinster), Tony Buckley (Munster), Dan Tuohy (Ulster), Shane Jennings (Leinster), Eoin Reddan (Leinster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Geordan Murphy (Leicester).
