Cian Healy is set to make his 50th Guinness Six Nations appearance after being selected to start for Ireland against Wales in the Round 1 clash in Cardiff on Sunday.
It will be the veteran loosehead’s 105th appearance for his country and he is joined in the front row by Rob Herring and Andrew Porter.
After coming through the first half of Leinster’s match against Scarlets unscathed last weekend – his first competitive rugby since February due to back and calf injuries – Tadhg Furlong provides a front-row alternative from the bench, alongside Ronan Kelleher and Dave Kilcoyne.
Elsewhere in the pack, Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan make up the starting lock pairing, with Iain Henderson among the replacements having recovered from a knee injury he suffered in December, while Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier and CJ Stander form an experienced back row.
O’Mahony is one of five players in the starting XV who were in the matchday squad the last time Ireland won a Championship match in Wales, back in 2013, with the half-back pairing of Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton two of the others.
Keith Earls was another, and he starts in a back-three that also contains Hugo Keenan and James Lowe – the latter of whom will make his Guinness Six Nations debut after qualifying for Ireland during the autumn – with Jordan Larmour having to settle for a place on the bench.
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Centres Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose complete the starting XV as Ireland will be hoping for a repeat of last year’s 24-14 Championship victory over Wales in Dublin, while they also triumphed 32-9 when the side met in the Autumn Nations Cup.
Ireland team to face Wales in Round 1 of the 2021 Guinness Six Nations: 15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster) 6 caps 14. Keith Earls (Munster) 88 caps 13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster) 30 caps 12. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) 47 caps 11. James Lowe (Leinster) 2 caps 10. Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) 95 caps – Captain 9. Conor Murray (Munster) 87 caps 1. Cian Healy (Leinster) 104 caps 2. Rob Herring (Ulster) 16 caps 3. Andrew Porter (Leinster) 32 caps 4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster) 17 caps 5. James Ryan (Leinster) 32 caps 6. Peter O’Mahony (Munster) 73 caps 7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster) 28 caps 8. CJ Stander (Munster) 46 caps
Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster) 6 caps 17. Dave Kilcoyne (Munster) 39 caps 18. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster) 44 caps 19. Iain Henderson (Ulster) 58 caps 20. Will Connors (Leinster) 5 caps 21. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster) 5 caps 22. Billy Burns (Ulster) 3 caps 23. Jordan Larmour (Leinster) 24 caps
