Tadhg Beirne captains Ireland against Fiji on Saturday.
Hugo Keenan scored three tries last Friday and is not in the 23. Seven changes for Fiji, and most of them point at the Springboks a week later.
Ireland play Fiji at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday 14 November (kick-off 20.10, Virgin Media One) with lock Tadhg Beirne as captain, Mack Hansen at fullback and Nick Timoney at No 8, seven changes from the side that beat Argentina 42-12.
Beirne has the armband because Dan Sheehan, the usual captain, is going through 12 days of concussion return-to-play steps, as the IRFU confirmed on Monday 9 November. James McNabney, an Ulster back-row forward, should win a first cap from the bench.
Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, who gets the No 9 shirt back, knows what is coming. “They’re very physical and, by nature, they love to hammer people,” he told reporters at Abbotstown on Wednesday.
A hat-trick, then a week off
RTE’s reading is that Keenan and lock Joe McCarthy are being rested before South Africa come to Dublin. Head coach Andy Farrell looks to be managing minutes, not dropping form.
Hansen moves from the wing to 15 to cover Keenan’s absence. Rob Baloucoune keeps his place on the other wing, and Tommy O’Brien comes into the back three for his first game of the November window.
New centres, and a swap at scrum-half
Bundee Aki at 12 and Jamie Osborne at 13 are both new to the XV. Stuart McCloskey and Robbie Henshaw started the Argentina win; McCloskey is on the bench this time and Henshaw is not in the 23.
Aki was meant to be a replacement last week but withdrew ill on the day, and Osborne took his bench place. The 42 calls this an all-new partnership.
Sam Prendergast stays at fly-half. Gibson-Park was a replacement against Argentina. Craig Casey, the starter that night, is back on the bench.
Where the caps sit in the pack
Rónan Kelleher replaces Sheehan at hooker between Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong. James Ryan comes in beside Beirne at lock, Ryan Baird keeps his place in the back row, and Josh van der Flier is back at openside.
Timoney gets the No 8 shirt because Connacht’s Sean Jansen is out of the Nations Championship with a knee injury.
We added up the caps printed on The 42’s team sheet. The XV has 722 caps, and 335 of them belong to four forwards: Furlong 89, Ryan 84, van der Flier 82 and Porter 80. The back three of Hansen, Baloucoune and O’Brien has 50 between them.
The case for keeping Keenan in
The other reading is that Ireland lose a week of combinations they will need against the Springboks. Aki and Osborne get one Test as a pair before South Africa, and Hansen, a wing against Argentina, gets one game at 15 to prove the switch works.
Fiji arrive under South African coach Jake White and off a 54-17 defeat to France in Lyon last Saturday. Gibson-Park put it politely: “They’re an interesting team to play.”
The Ireland team v Fiji
- Backs: Mack Hansen (15; Connacht, 31 caps), Robert Baloucoune (14; Ulster, 10), Jamie Osborne (13; Leinster, 18), Bundee Aki (12; Connacht, 72), Tommy O’Brien (11; Leinster, 9), Sam Prendergast (10; Leinster, 18), Jamison Gibson-Park (9; Leinster, 54)
- Forwards: Andrew Porter (1; Leinster, 80), Rónan Kelleher (2; Leinster, 52), Tadhg Furlong (3; Leinster, 89), James Ryan (4; Leinster, 84), Tadhg Beirne (5, captain; Munster, 74), Ryan Baird (6; Leinster, 34), Josh van der Flier (7; Leinster, 82), Nick Timoney (8; Ulster, 15)
- Replacements: front row Tom Stewart (16), Tom O’Toole (17) and Sam Illo (18); Darragh Murray (19), James McNabney (20, uncapped), Craig Casey (21), Ciarán Frawley (22) and Stuart McCloskey (23)
Leinster supply ten of the starting XV.
What happens next
Ireland are after back-to-back wins in Dublin before South Africa arrive the following Saturday. Sheehan’s fitness for that Test depends on how his return-to-play steps go this week.
Hansen at 15 against Fiji, Keenan fresh for the Springboks: if Hansen scores twice on Saturday, who wears 15 next week?
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