Andy Farrell has made a bold call in his side for Saturday's first Test against South Africa in Pretoria, handing Leinster's Jamie Osborne his debut at full-back for the meeting with the world champions.
Osborne's provincial teammate Jimmy O'Brien had been expected to take the 15 shirt for Saturday's game at Loftus Versfeld, with Hugo Keenan unavailable due to his involvement with the Ireland Sevens team, but Farrell will unleash the uncapped 22-year-old against the Springboks.
The Kildare native has already amassed plenty of experience with Leinster, playing 48 times, and has regularly been involved in Ireland squads across the last two seasons.
And while he played as a full-back for Ireland U20s in 2021, almost all of his senior rugby experience has come at centre, with just two appearances in the 15 shirt for Leinster, the last of which came in December 2022.
The debutant is one of two changes to Farrell's side from their most recent international, a 17-13 win against Scotland in the final round of the Six Nations in March.
The other change sees Craig Casey (above) get the nod over Conor Murray at scrum-half, replacing the injured Jamison Gibson-Park.
Casey will earn his 15th cap against the world champions, for what is just his fourth start in a Test, having previously started three times against Italy and once versus the USA.
He links up with his Munster teammate Jack Crowley in the half-backs, while Robbie Henshaw has been preferred to Garry Ringrose as Bundee Aki's centre partner.
Calvin Nash and James Lowe start as expected on the wings, with Osborne at full-back.
The pack is unchanged from the side that took to the field against Scotland, with Peter O'Mahony captaining the team at flanker, alongside Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris in the back row.
Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne are paired at lock, behind a front row of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong.
Farrell (below) has resisted the urge to match South Africa with a 6:2 bench split, picking his preferred 5:3 ratio, with Garry Ringrose joining Ciarán Frawley and Conor Murray as the back replacements.
Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O'Mahony (capt), Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Conor Murray, Ciarán Frawley, Garry Ringrose.
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