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Uncapped trio Garry Ringrose, Billy Holland and Jack O’Donoghue are in the Ireland starting line-up to face Canada
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Joe Schmidt has made 15 changes following their historic win against the All Blacks in Chicago last weekend
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Sean O’Brien and Peter O’Mahony return after lengthy injury absences
Peter O’Mahony will captain Ireland on Saturday against Canada at the Aviva Stadium in his first outing for his country since the World Cup.
There are three uncapped players in the starting XV and a further five named in the replacements. Skipper O’Mahony is joined in the back row by Sean O’Brien and the uncapped Jack O’Donoghue.
Billy Holland will make his Ireland debut in the second-row alongside Ultan Dillane while last weekend’s replacement front-row of Finlay Bealham, Sean Cronin and Cian Healy start this weekend.
Kieran Marmion and Paddy Jackson form a partnership at half-back, while Luke Marshall and new cap Garry Ringrose are paired together in the midfield.
The back-three is made up of Craig Gilroy and Keith Earls on the wings and Tiernan O’Halloran, capped during the summer in South Africa, at fullback.
In the replacements, the five uncapped players are James Tracy, John Ryan, Dan Leavy, Luke McGrath and Niyi Adeolokun.
They are joined by Dave Kilcoyne, Donnacha Ryan and Joey Carbery, who made his debut against New Zealand in Chicago.
Coach Joe Schmidt has opted to rest all the players who began last week’s historic win over New Zealand, ahead of next week’s re-match between the teams.
Ireland: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Niyi Adeolokun
