South Africa on the horizon but Farrell opts for continuity ahead of Fiji clash

"I wouldn't say it's an experimental team by any stretch of the imagination, this is a good side that should perform on Saturday,” the ehad coach says. 

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell faces the media on Thursday. Pic: Paul Phelan/Sportsfile

Andy Farrell said he opted for continuity over experimentation in naming his Ireland side to face Fiji for the second game of their November Nations Championship campaign at Aviva Stadium on Saturday night.

There are seven changes and two positional switches to the line-up which started the 42-12 victory over Argentina last Friday in Dublin, with only two new faces included due to injuries, with hooker Dan Sheehan and No.8 Sean Jansen ruled out after sustaining knocks in the Los Pumas win.

Tadhg Beirne will lead Ireland for the first time on home soil to replace Sheehan as matchday skipper with Rónan Kelleher taking over at hooker having replaced his team mate just before half-time for a Head Injury Assessment last Friday. Sheehan is now progressing through his 12-day return to play protocol for concussion.

The other enforced change sees Nick Timoney switch from openside flanker to No.8 to cover Jansen’s absence with a knee injury as Josh van der Flier comes off the bench to fill the vacuum at number seven. Beirne partners James Ryan in the second row with Joe McCarthy given the night off.

Mack Hansen shifts from left wing to full-back as Hugo Keenan is rested following his hat-trick-scoring man of the match performance against Argentina, with Tommy O’Brien filling the vacancy at number 11. And there is a new yet familiar midfield pairing in Jamie Osborne and Bundee Aki, who was a late withdrawal from the bench last weekend due to illness.

Jamison Gibson-Park regains his scrum-half berth from Craig Casey, who drops to the bench after an impressive start last time out, this week’s number nine getting the opportunity to play more minutes as he continues his return from an injury which delayed his start to the season.

There is very much an eye on the following week’s visit of back-to-back world champions South Africa in this starting selection as the Ireland boss looks to add more momentum heading to a rematch with Rassie Erasmus’s Springboks, 12 months on from a chastening 24-13 defeat on home soil and Farrell is seeking to avoid the lack of cohesion in previous outings against Tier Two nations when multiple changes have produced what he has described as clunky team performances.

“Continuity is good, but I don't think there's that many changes,” Farrell said. “There's a few that we would have had to have made, but I think in this game in particular I like the look of the team. I like the look of last week's team, but this, I wouldn't say it's an experimental team by any stretch of the imagination, this is a good side that should perform on Saturday.” There is also a potential Ireland debutant on the bench with Ulster back-rower James McNabney named as a replacement and Farrell hailed his rise from a non-traditional rugby backing to a possible Test player.

“I think it's a brilliant story because it's not a conventional way of coming through, from a rugby point of view,” the head coach said, “riding horses and farming until he was 16 and making a choice there.

“Obviously, for the size of him you would have worried for the horses at that stage, wouldn't you?

“But from a school (Cambridge House Grammar School in Ballymena) that's not a traditional rugby school, I think it's a phenomenal story for him to come through the (Ireland) U20s and do what he's done at Ulster, and here he is, deserving his first cap opportunity on Saturday.” 

IRELAND (v Fiji): Mack Hansen (Connacht); Robert Baloucoune (Ulster), Jamie Osborne (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), Tommy O’Brien (Leinster); Sam Prendergast (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster);

Andrew Porter (Leinster), Rónan Kelleher (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster); James Ryan (Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Munster) – captain; Ryan Baird (Leinster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Nick Timoney (Ulster).

Replacements: Tom Stewart (Ulster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Sam Illo (Connacht), Darragh Murray (Connacht), James McNabney (Ulster), Craig Casey (Munster), Ciarán Frawley (Connacht), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster).