Benchwarmers also hoping to state their case

Simon Lewis Tadhg Beirne’s role as a potential replacement flanker against Italy at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon underlines how this game is just as important for the bench as it is for Ireland’s starters.

Tadhg Beirne’s role as a potential replacement flanker against Italy at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon underlines how this game is just as important for the bench as it is for Ireland’s starters.

With Munster team-mate Jean Kleyn handed his Ireland debut, starting in second-row in partnership with the experienced Devin Toner, and fellow lock/flanker Iain Henderson named alongside him as a replacement, the battle for final squad places on the plane to Japan next month could hardly have been brought into sharper focus for Beirne this weekend.