Ross set to face Eagles
Tight head prop Mike Ross comes into the front row to make his first start after coming off the bench last Saturday against Canada to win his first cap.
Ross’s inclusion means Tony Buckley moves from the right side of the scrum to loose head prop. The reshuffle sees Tom Court move to the replacements to fill the vacancy made by Ross’s elevation to the starting team.
The rest of the pack remains unchanged with Mick O’Driscoll named in the side despite picking up a slight wrist sprain during the game last week. As a precaution, Leinster second row Devin Toner has been called into the squad. Toner, who was also named in the Churchill Cup squad, joined up with the team last night and will remain on with the other members of the senior squad who will be taking part in the Churchill Cup in Denver which begins in early June.
Another addition to the squad is Alan Gaffney, who was involved with Leinster’s Heineken Cup win but will be now working in his Ireland capacity as backs coach for the remainder of the tour and the Churchill Cup.
Said Kidney: “We felt that after last week’s game against Canada that the players who started deserved another chance to improve. We thought about making further changes but with only two full sessions under their belts before the Canada game, we thought that it would be better to give an opportunity for the same players and combinations to find their feet a bit more.”
IRELAND (v USA Eagles): G Duffy (Connacht); B Murphy (Munster), D Cave (Ulster), I Whitten (Ulster), I Dowling (Munster); I Keatley (Connacht), P Stringer (Munster); T Buckley (Munster), R Best (Ulster, capt), M Ross (Harlequins); B Casey (London Irish), M O’Driscoll (Munster); J Muldoon (Connacht), N Ronan (Munster), D Leamy (Munster).
Replacements: S Cronin (Connacht), T Court (Ulster), R Caldwell (Ulster), D Ryan (Munster), E Reddan (Wasps), N O’Connor (Ulster), D Hurley (Munster)
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