10 Munster Men In Ireland Squad For Russia Clash

Ten Munster players have been named in the 23-man Ireland squad for Thursday’s clash against Russia at the Kobe Misaki Stadium on Thursday (7.15pm local time/11.15am Irish time).

John Ryan and Jean Kleyn will make their World Cup debuts in the clash as part of an all-Munster tight five along with Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and Tadhg Beirne.

Peter O’Mahony, Keith Earls and Andrew Conway also start the clash with CJ Stander and Joey Carbery among the replacements.

Jonathan Sexton will become the 106th player to captain Ireland when he leads the team out

Sexton is partnered by provincial colleague Luke McGrath with Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose in the centres.

Rob Kearney, who passed his HIA protocols, is named to start at full-back with Conway and Earls on the wings.

There is a new look to the front row as Kilcoyne, Scannell and Ryan all get their first full start at the Rugby World Cup. Kleyn also makes his tournament bow alongside Beirne in the second row.

Jordi Murphy, called up as a replacement for the injured Jack Conan, is straight into the action at number 8 with Rhys Ruddock at 6 and O’Mahony at 7.

Sean Cronin, Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong provide the front row cover on the bench with Iain Henderson and Stander covering lock and back row.

Carbery, Jack Carty and Jordan Larmour are the replacement backs.

Ireland Team & Replacements ( v Russia, Rugby World Cup Pool A, Kobe Misaki Stadium, Thursday, October 3, kick-off 7.15pm local/11.15am Irish)

15 Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 93 caps

14 Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 16 caps

13 Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 26 caps

12 Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 21 caps

11 Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 79 caps

10 Jonathan Sexton (St Marys College/Leinster) 85 caps captain

9 Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 16 caps

1 Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 33 caps

2 Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 17 caps

3 John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 20 caps

4 Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster) 10 caps

5 Jean Kleyn (Munster) 3 caps

6 Rhys Ruddock (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 24 caps

7 Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 61 caps

8 Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Ulster) 29 caps

Replacements

16 Sean Cronin (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 71 caps

17 Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 20 caps

18 Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 38 caps

19 Iain Henderson (Queens University/Ulster) 50 caps

20 CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 35 caps

21 Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster) 20 caps

22 Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 9 caps

23 Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 18 caps