Rob Kearney gets the nod in one of four changes to the Ireland side that beat Argentina last weekend as Joe Schmidt’s men prepare to do battle against New Zealand at the Aviva on Saturday.
The four-time Six Nations winner comes in for Jordan Larmour at full-back, with Keith Earls and Jacob Stockdale either side on the wings.
Garry Ringrose starts at centre, with Robbie Henshaw still sidelined with a neck injury, alongside Bundee Aki, while Johnny Sexton and Kieran Marmion complete the backs.
Dan Leavy, who starred from the bench in Ireland’s 28-17 win over the Pumas last weekend, is rewarded with a starting berth in place of Sean O’Brien, who misses the game through injury, joining Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander in the back row.
Devin Toner comes in for Iain Henderson, partnering James Ryan in the second row, with skipper Rory Best, Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong continuing in front of them.
And Ireland Head Coach Schmidt stressed the difficultly in selecting his starting XV to face the reigning world champion All Blacks.
“There’s some tough decisions in there; there’s some very good players that we’ve left out; there’s some players who’ve played well in the first two games and unfortunately don’t get an opportunity, but you can only name the 23 players.
“We’ve just got to be prepared for what they’re going to bring. I think they’ve got a top side out and we know they’ll come after us in some areas, because they did last time.
“When the game’s up and running it’s likely to be fairly manic.”
Ireland XV to face New Zealand:
15. Rob Kearney, 14. Keith Earls, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. Jacob Stockdale, 10. Jonathan Sexton, 9. Kieran Marmion, 1. Cian Healy, 2. Rory Best (c), 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Devin Toner, 5. James Ryan, 6. Peter O’Mahony, 7. Dan Leavy, 8. CJ Stander.
Replacements: 16. Sean Cronin, 17. Jack McGrath, 18. Andrew Porter, 19. Iain Henderson, 20. Josh van der Flier, 21. Luke McGrath, 22. Joey Carbery, 23. Jordan Larmour.
