Ireland have been able to select captain Brian O’Driscoll after his recovery from a hamstring injury, while wing Luke Fitzgerald makes his first start in a year and Eoin Reddan starts at scrum-half in place of the injured Tomas O’Leary, the other big absentee along with lock Paul O’Connell.
South Africa arrive in Dublin with an injury depleted squad, 13 regulars unavailable and several of the party nursing bruises from last weekend’s Currie Cup final. There are unfamiliar faces in the backline with Gio Aplon starting at full-back, Bjorn Basson on the right wing and Zane Kirchner – normally a full-back at outside centre alongside the experienced Jean de Villiers, who passed a late fitness test.
Teams
Ireland: 15-Rob Kearney, 14-Tommy Bowe, 13-Brian O’Driscoll (captain), 12- Gordon D’Arcy, 11-Luke Fitzgerald, 10-Jonathan Sexton, 9-Eoin Reddan, 1-Cian Healy, 2-Rory Best, 3-Tony Buckley, 4-Donncha O’Callaghan, 5-Mick O’Driscoll, 6-Stephen Ferris, 7-David Wallace, 8-Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-Tom Court, 18-Donncha Ryan, 19- Denis Leamy, 20-Peter Stringer, 21-Ronan O’Gara, 22-Keith Earls
South Africa: 15-Gio Aplon, 14-Bjorn Basson, 13-Zane Kirchner, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Bryan Habana, 10-Morne Steyn, 9-Ruan Pienaar; 1-Tendai Mtawarira, 2-Bismarck du Plessis, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 4-Bakkies Botha, 5-Victor Matfield (capt), 6-Deon Stegmann, 7- Juan Smith, 8-Pierre Spies.
Replacements: 16-Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17-CJ van der Linde, 18-Flip van der Merwe, 19-Keegan Daniel, 20-Francois Hougaard, 21-Adi Jacobs, 22-Patrick Lambie.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges: Bryce Lawrence & Keith Brown (both NZ)
TV: Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Fixture
Ireland v South Africa Aviva Stadium Date Saturday, 6 November 2010 Kick-off: 1730 GMT Coverage: BBC Two