Down under

The Ireland coaching group have named the match day squad that will take on Australia in the first Test of the Series at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday morning.

In the absence through injury of Rory Best, Peter O’Mahony fills in as captain and is joined in the backrow by Jordi Murphy at openside and CJ Stander at No.8. James Ryan and Iain Henderson fill the lock positions with Jack McGrath, Rob Herring and John Ryan making up the front row.

Rob Kearney is named at fullback and is joined in the outfield by Jacob Stockdale and Keith Earls. Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw are reunited in midfield with Conor Murray and Joey Carbery at halfback.

The replacements named are Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Tadhg Furlong, Quinn Roux, Jack Conan, Kieran Marmion, Johnny Sexton and Jordan Larmour.

IRELAND squad for 1st Test v Australia

15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 83 caps
14. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 67 caps
13. Robbie Henshaw(Buccaneers/Leinster) 33 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 7 caps
11. Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 9 caps
10. Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 10 caps
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 64 caps

1. Jack McGrath (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 47 caps
2. Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 3 caps
3. John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 13 caps
4. Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 38 caps
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 8 caps
6. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 47 caps capt
7. Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 20 caps
8. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 23 caps

Replacements
16. Sean Cronin (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 61 caps
17. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 78 caps
18. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 23 caps
19. Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 5 caps
20. Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 7 caps
21. Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 21 caps
22. Johnny Sexton (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 73 caps
23. Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 3 caps

IRELAND SUMMER TOUR 2018 FIXTURES

Saturday 9th June, 2018
Australia v IRELAND
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, KO 20.05 local (11.05 IE)

Saturday 16th June, 2018
Australia v IRELAND
AAMI Park, Melbourne, KO 20.05 local (11.05 IE)

Saturday 23rd June, 2018
Australia v Ireland
Allianz Park, Sydney KO 20.05 local (11.05 IE)