Ireland name team to tackle Springboks at Loftus Versfeld

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has picked his side to take on the world champion Springboks in the first of two Tests at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday (5pm).

Peter O’Mahony will captain the team from the side of the scrum and is joined in the back-row by Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris.

Leinster’s Jamie Osborne will earn a debut at fullback, while young scrumhalf Craig Casey has got the nod to be Jack Crowley’s halfback partner.

No surprises

There were no surprises in the matchday squad selected by Farrell, whose team beat the Boks in the pool stages of the World Cup in France last year. Ireland have also won their last three matches against the world champions from 2019 and 2023.

Osborne is joined in the Ireland back three by Calvin Nash and James Lowe, while Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw will start in the midfield.

Up front, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong start in the front row, with Joe McCarthy partnering Tadhg Beirne in the engine room.

A strong bench has been picked by Farrell to counter the Boks’ famed “Bomb Squad”, though Farrell has resisted matching the 6-2 forwards to backs bench split named by the Boks’ coach Rassie Erasmus.

Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan and Ryan Baird are the forward reinforcements, with Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley and Garry Ringrose completing the Ireland matchday-23.

Ireland: Jamie Osborne, Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Ali, James Lowe, James Crowley, Conor Casey, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony (capt), Tadhg Beirne, Joe McCarthy; Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Andrrew Porter. Bench: Ronan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley, Garry Ringrose