Eight Munster Men In Ireland Squad For World Cup Opener
20th September 2019 By The Editor
Conor Murray and CJ Stander at training in Japan this week.
Eight Munster players have been named in Ireland’s squad for Sunday’s Rugby World Cup opener against Scotland (8.45am Irish time).
Rory Best will captain Ireland with eight of the starting XV will be making their first appearance at the global rugby tournament.
Peter O’Mahony, CJ Stander, Conor Murray and Andrew Conway all start the clash with Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne, Tadhg Beirne and Chris Farrell among the replacements.
Best is joined in the front row by Cian Healy, playing in his third Rugby World Cup, and Tadhg Furlong, featuring at his second tournament.
James Ryan will make his Rugby World Cup debut alongside Iain Henderson who won four caps at England 2015.
There are two tournament debutants in the back row with Josh van der Flier at 7 and Stander at number 8. Peter O’Mahony, winning his 60th cap, played in New Zeland 2011 and England 2015.
Only two of the backline have played at the Rugby World Cup before, scrum-half Murray and out-half Jonathan Sexton featured at the 2011 and 2015 tournaments.
Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki in the centre make their RWC 2019 debut with Jordan Larmour, Conway and Jacob Stockdale also making their tournament bow.
The eight players named in the replacements are all featuring at their first Rugby World Cup . Scannell, Kilcoyne and Andrew Porter cover the front row with Beirne and Jack Conan the other forward subs.
Luke McGrath, Jack Carty and Farrell are the replacement backs.
Ireland Team & Replacements (v Scotland, Rugby World Cup 2019, Pool A, Yokohama Stadium, Sunday, September 22, 16:45 JST / 08:45 Irish time)
15 Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 16 caps*
14 Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 15 caps*
13 Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 24 caps*
12 Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 20 caps*
11 Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 21 caps*
10 Jonathan Sexton (St Marys College/Leinster) 84 caps
9 Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 74 caps
1 Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 91 caps
2 Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 120 caps CAPTAIN
3 Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 36 caps
4 Iain Henderson (Queens University/Ulster) 48 caps
5 James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 19 caps*
6 Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 59 caps
7 Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 19 caps*
8 CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 33 caps*
Replacements
16 Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 16 caps*
17 Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 31 caps*
18 Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 18 caps*
19 Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster) 8 caps*
20 Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 16 caps*
21 Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 14 caps*
22 Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 7 caps*
23 Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster) 7 caps*
*Denotes Rugby World Cup Debut