LAST UPDATE | 23 Feb 2023
IRELAND HEAD COACH Andy Farrell has named his matchday 23 for Saturday’s clash against Italy at Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Farrell has made six changes to his starting XV for the round three Six Nations tie.
Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Bundee Aki, Rónan Kelleher, Iain Henderson, and Jack Conan all come into the side.
Casey’s chance
It’s two years since Johnny Sexton compared Craig Casey to the great Jonny Wilkinson in terms of his attitude towards the game. The Ireland captain admitted to being blown away by Casey’s diligent, hard-working approach to improving.
Casey had just made his Ireland debut off the bench against Italy in Rome so it’s fitting that the 23-year-old will make his first Six Nations start at the Stadio Olimpico this Saturday.
He has had to be patient. His only Test start up to this point came against the US in the summer of 2021. Casey has watched Jamison Gibson-Park become a key man in Ireland’s number nine jersey, while Andy Farrell has kept the faith in Conor Murray.
Having recently pushed past Murray for starts at Munster, Casey now gets a big chance to show what he can do for Ireland. As ever, Farrell will tell Casey to be himself. That means rapid service from the base of the ruck, sniping runs, and gritty defensive effort.
No Johnny
With Ireland clear favourites to win this weekend, this seems like the best possible occasion for Sexton to be absent. The 37-year-old will be with Ireland in Rome this weekend, but he won’t play as he continues to recover from his groin injury.
Farrell’s men must replace his onfield leadership, play-calling, and decision-making without fuss.
Ross Byrne deservedly gets the number 10 shirt for what will, rather remarkably, be his first Test start that’s not against England at Twickenham. The Leinster man was rather harshly judged on those two previous starts, which went badly for Ireland collectively.
It will be intriguing to see Byrne carry his confidence into Saturday while it will also be interesting to see how Ireland fare on the leadership front.
James Ryan is skipper for the weekend – his seventh time leading Ireland from the start – having shown more self-belief and conviction than ever in recent months. It has been notable how Sexton has been swayed by Ryan’s advice on a few penalty decisions. 50-times capped Ryan is also playing some of his best rugby.
There are lots of lieutenants around Ryan. Garry Ringrose is another who has found his voice, quietly influencing referees and constantly leading by example.
Ulster captain Iain Henderson, fullback Hugo Keenan, and back row Caelan Doris are part of Ireland’s leadership group too, so Ryan won’t be short of people to lean on if required.
As for the out-half situation, Sexton’s absence means the talented Jack Crowley is in line to win his third cap off the bench. It’s all good for the depth chart.
Bundee back at 12
It’s a case of rotation at inside centre for Ireland as Bundee Aki comes into the starting XV and Stuart McCloskey swaps onto the bench.
Ulster man McCloskey had enjoyed five consecutive starts and five consecutive wins for Ireland up until this weekend, hugely enhancing his credentials as a top-tier international centre.
His performance against France last time out didn’t grab the headlines but McCloskey was superb in an understated way. He made others look good with his powerful, accurate work.
Aki has been impactful off the bench over the first two rounds of the Six Nations, putting an unhappy situation in Connacht behind him. To be fair, Aki’s quality as a Test centre has never been in doubt. He has proven himself time and time again over 43 caps.
With Robbie Henshaw still on the comeback trail, Aki gets a fine opportunity to stake a claim for the starting spot against Scotland in two weekends’ time. His chief priority is helping Ireland to win against Italy, of course, but both he and McCloskey will be desperate to start the last two games of this championship too.
Conan comes into the XV
While Jack Conan hasn’t had a front-line start for Ireland since last year’s Six Nations, he has remained a crucial part of Farrell’s first-choice quartet of back row players.
Conan’s most recent start in green came against Fiji in the autumn, but he has had important roles to play off the bench in the three Tests against New Zealand last summer, victories over the Springboks and Wallabies in November, then the wins versus Wales and France in the current campaign.
With three Lions Test caps to his name, Conan is proven as a force at the highest level and remains a high-class option for Farrell at number eight. The issue for Conan is that Caelan Doris is one of the best in the world in that position.
Doris shifts to the blindside flank for this weekend as Conan comes in, with Peter O’Mahony moving to the bench. The Irish replacements also include the in-form Ryan Baird, who has been excellent for Leinster in the number six shirt but can also play in the second row.
With Tadhg Beirne injured and Iain Henderson promoted to the starting second row, Baird will hope for a lengthy stint off the bench as he wins his eighth cap on Saturday.
While Farrell’s matchday 23 still has a very strong look to it, with most first-choice players retained, the rotation should help to further develop his squad.
The missing men
As expected, Farrell’s matchday 23 comes from the 25-man squad he brought together for a short two-day camp last week, culminating in training against the Ireland U20s.
That group is always the strongest indicator about who will feature in the game the following week, yet it will still come as a surprise to some supporters that all the players who went back to their provinces last weekend won’t feature in Italy.
Perhaps the trio with the greatest claims were Gavin Coombes, Jimmy O’Brien, and Jordan Larmour.
25-year-old back row Coombes has been excellent for Munster since being dropped from the Ireland squad last autumn, but he has been unable to force his way past the more established back rows again this weekend.
Versatile Leinster back O’Brien had a breakthrough autumn campaign with Ireland last year, playing in three different positions, but has missed out on Six Nations involvement as Farrell has gone for an out-and-out centre in the number 23 shirt so far.
Larmour has come back into good form for Leinster but Ireland fancy the current back three and believe there is still growth in that combination of Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, and James Lowe. Larmour’s wait to add to his 30 caps goes on.
Meanwhile, any hopes that 35-year-old Keith Earls could add to his 98 Test caps have been quashed for now by injuries that have also denied him a chance to build up form. Farrell had been keen to see Earls hit 100 but elite sport can often refuse to play ball.
