Round 3.

Ireland boss Joe Schmidt and his coaching ticket have named the matchday squad that will face Russia at the Kobe Misaki Stadium on Thursday.

Johnny Sexton will captain the side and is joined by his provincial partner Luke McGrath at half-back. Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose are named in the centre with Rob Kearney at fullback supported by Andrew Conway and Keith Earls on the wings.

The back-row sees new arrival Jordi Murphy at No.8 alongside Peter O’Mahony at openside and Rhys Ruddock at blindside. Tadhg Beirne and Jean Kleyn are named at lock with Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and John Ryan all coming in to the front row.

The replacements for Thursday’s game are Sean Cronin, Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson, CJ Stander, Joey Carbery, Jack Carty and Jordan Larmour.

IRELAND team to play Russia

15. Rob Kearney
14. Andrew Conway
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Bundee Aki
11. Keith Earls
10. Jonathan Sexton (c)
9. Luke McGrath

1. Dave Kilcoyne
2. Niall Scannell
3. John Ryan
4. Tadhg Beirne
5. Jean Kleyn
6. Rhys Ruddock
7. Peter O’Mahony
8. Jordi Murphy

Replacements:
16. Sean Cronin
17. Andrew Porter
18. Tadhg Furlong
19. Iain Henderson
20. CJ Stander
21. Joey Carbery
22. Jack Carty
23. Jordan Larmour