JONATHAN Sexton and Iain Henderson will not be risked by Joe Schmidt against Romania, with Ireland’s team for Sunday's game having been announced on Friday afternoon.
Sexton picked up a knock on his knee in training during the week, while Henderson is yet to fully recover from a back injury, but there's a welcome full return for Cian Healy as just three men who started Ireland's 50-7 win over Canada keep their place in the XV.
Peter O'Mahony also misses out on the squad through injury, while Jamie Heaslip has been named captain as Paul O’Connell drops to the bench, with Schmidt naming an experimental team for the game at Wembley, London.
Ireland team to play Romania:
- 15. Simon Zebo
- 14. Tommy Bowe
- 13. Jared Payne
- 12. Darren Cave
- 11. Keith Earls
- 10. Ian Madigan
- 9. Eoin Reddan
- 8. Jamie Heaslip [Captain]
- 7. Chris Henry
- 6. Jordi Murphy
- 5. Devin Toner
- 4. Donnacha Ryan
- 3. Nathan White
- 2. Richardt Strauss
- 1. Cian Healy
Replacements:
- 16. Sean Cronin
- 17. Jack McGrath
- 18. Tadhg Furlong
- 19. Paul O’Connell
- 20. Sean O’Brien
- 21. Conor Murray
- 22. Paddy Jackson
- 23. Rob Kearney
Here's the @irishrugby team v @RugbyRomania #ShoulderToShoulder #RWC2015 pic.twitter.com/scVAJWwo3s
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) September 25, 2015
