Farrell hands Crowley the reins for final World Cup warm-up test 

GETTING THE NOD: Jack Crowley has been picked ahead of out-half rival Ross Byrne.

Andy Farrell has handed Jack Crowley the reins at fly-half for Ireland’s final game before next month’s World Cup after naming a strong side around the inexperienced Test number 10 for Saturday’s clash with Samoa.

The Munster playmaker will make his third start for Ireland and second of the summer series of warm-up games when he wins his seventh cap at Bayonne’s Stade Jean Dauger, partnered by scrum-half and provincial team-mate Conor Murray, who is one of three test centurions in the starting XV alongside loosehead prop Cian Healy and left-wing Keith Earls, who reached his milestone 100th cap with a try off the bench in the 29-10 Aviva Stadium win over England.

There are 12 changes from that game in this team named on Thursday with only right wing and try-scoring man of the match Mack Hansen, lock Tadhg Beirne and openside flanker Josh van der Flier retained from the Dublin outing.

Jimmy O’Brien replaces Hugo Keenan at full-back and Earls comes in for James Lowe while there is a fresh midfield pairing with Robbie Henshaw in at 13 and Stuart McCloskey at inside centre where Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki started seven days earlier.

Andrew Porter makes way for Healy in a front row also featuring Tom Stewart at hooker, set to make a first Ireland start after a debut off the bench against Italy on August 5. His chance comes with Dan Sheehan recovering from a foot injury sustained against England, while Finlay Bealham moves into the tighthead berth in place of Tadhg Furlong.

Iain Henderson will captain Ireland from the second row, alongside Beirne, while van der Flier is part of an all-Leinster back row with blindside flanker Ryan Baird and No.8 Caelan Doris, who have replaced Peter O’Mahony and Cian Prendergast respectively.

PUTTING HIS HAND UP: Jack Crowley is vying for World Cup game-time. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

O’Mahony and last week’s captain James Ryan bolster the replacements alongside hooker Rob Herring, and props Jeremy Loughman and Tom O’Toole. Craig Casey is the replacement scrum-half and Ringrose is handed the number 23 jersey while Ross Byrne provides cover for Crowley having earned praise from attack coach Mike Catt earlier this week for helping the Munster fly-half’s development.

Speaking on Tuesday, Catt said he wanted Crowley to build his authority within the Ireland squad.

“From Munster he only really controlled those last five or six weeks, a lot of the time he was playing at 12 so he had other people doing it,” Catt explained. “When he’s been in with us you’ve have had Ross, you’ve had Johnny (Sexton), so he’s been able to learn and feed off that.

“So for him, it’s not just owning it in a game, it’s owning it throughout the week. He needs to own the week and that’s something that’s a work-on of his and he’s done pretty well so far.

“So again, it’s just another one he can keep developing and keep getting better at. He’s got a ton of help around him, Ross has been brilliant in that, Ross is exceptional with that, so it’s been great.” 

IRELAND (v Samoa): J O'Brien (Leinster); M Hansen (Connacht), R Henshaw (Leinster), S McCloskey (Ulster), K Earls (Munster); J Crowley (Munster), C Murray (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), T Stewart (Ulster), F Bealham (Connacht); I Henderson (Ulster) – captain, T Beirne (Munster); R Baird (Leinster), J van der Flier (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster).

Replacements: R Herring (Ulster), J Loughman (Munster), T O'Toole (Ulster), J Ryan (Leinster), P O'Mahony (Munster), C Casey (Munster), R Byrne (Leinster), G Ringrose (Leinster).