Ireland team vs. Wales: Plenty of changes as Andy Farrell names his starting XV

Seven changes to the starting XV. Seven more on the bench.

Andy Farrell has named his Ireland team to face Wales in their Six Nations third round clash (Saturday, 2:15pm kick-off). His Ireland side toppled France 38-17 in the opening game of the 2024 championship and beat Italy 36-0 in their last game out.

IRELAND TEAM

15. Ciarán Frawley
14. Calvin Nash
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Bundee Aki
11. James Lowe
10. Jack Crowley
9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Joe McCarthy
5. Tadhg Beirne
6. Peter O’Mahony (captain)
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Caelan Doris

Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Oli Jager, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Stuart McCloskey.

We have all the team news latest, injury updates, player and coach quotes, and reactions from that match-day squad announcement.

Click on the key point you want to read about, or just keep scrolling to see updates in our live hub [below]:

Welsh challenge awaits this Ireland team

Following that 21-point victory over France and the drubbing of Italy, talk has inevitably turned to another Irish Grand Slam.

At the Six Nations launch, Andy Farrell was asked what success would look like for this Ireland team. “We want to win every game and winning matters,” he replied.

“I’ve never been one from shying away from that. I’ll say the same. But we’re realists and we know that it’s difficult. I suppose every team in the competition,  as we stand today, would love to be in with a shout on the last weekend to be able to go on and win that.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of water that gets put under the bridge. You’ve got to roll with the punches especially in the Six Nations because it changes the whole time and that’s why we love it. It’s about getting ourselves to be in with a shout, however that may look on the final weekend. That has to be what we’re aiming for.”

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