Ciaran Frawley will make his first Test start in Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Wales after being selected in place of injured full-back Hugo Keenan.
The versatile 26-year-old won his two previous caps as a replacement, including playing the final four minutes of the championship curtain-raiser away to France.
Keenan has been virtually ever-present in his country’s number 15 jersey during the past three years but will miss Saturday’s match in Dublin due to a knee injury suffered in the round-two victory over Italy.
Head coach Andy Farrell, who has included uncapped Munster prop Oli Jager among the replacements, has made seven personnel changes to his starting XV from the 36-0 win over the Azzurri Italy on February 11.
Captain Peter O’Mahony, prop Tadhg Furlong and centre Bundee Aki return following injuries, while lock Tadhg Beirne, scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and flanker Josh Van Der Flier are also recalled.
Second-row James Ryan, flanker Ryan Baird, number eight Jack Conan and centre Stuart McCloskey drop to a bench containing a six-two split of forwards and backs.
Prop Finlay Bealham and scrum-half Craig Casey have been left out of the matchday 23 after starting against Italy.
Lock Iain Henderson, who suffered a foot injury playing for Ulster last weekend, is not involved, while centre Garry Ringrose remains absent after missing the opening two rounds with a shoulder issue.
Frawley has been battling Jack Crowley and Harry Byrne for action at fly-half but Farrell has limited back-up options at full-back due to Jimmy O’Brien and Mack Hansen being ruled out of the entire tournament.
The full debutant has played a total of just 44 minutes of international rugby, during cameos in last summer’s World Cup warm-up win over Italy and the 38-17 victory over Les Bleus at the start of the month.
Crowley continues in the number 10 role, partnering Gibson-Park, with Aki and Robbie Henshaw in midfield and Calvin Nash and James Lowe retained on the wings.
In the front row, returning tighthead Furlong will pack down alongside Leinster team-mates Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan, ahead of the second row pairing of Joe McCarthy and Beirne.
Caelan Doris, who stood in as skipper last time out, reverts from openside flanker to number eight. Van der Flier returns to the number seven role, while O’Mahony is back in at blindside flanker.
Hooker Ronan Kelleher, prop Cian Healy and scrum-half Conor Murray complete the bench.
Ireland are seeking a third successive win in this year’s championship – and an 18th in a row at home – after launching their title defence with back-to-back bonus-point victories over France and Italy.
Opponents Wales began with narrow defeats to Scotland and England and have not won a Six Nations fixture in Dublin since 2012.
'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton
Australia will face their sternest test to date when they continue their autumn tour against a "world-class" Scotland team at Murrayfield on Sunday.
That is the view of forward Will Skelton, who believes the Wallabies' victories in England and Wales have brought a new energy and confidence to their camp.
Having crashed out in the pool stage at last year's World Cup in France before finishing last in the Rugby Championship, Australia have looked a team reborn in recent weeks.
A first victory at Twickenham since 2015 and a 52-20 rout of Wales – their biggest-ever away win in matches between the teams – have made it an excellent tour to date for Joe Schmidt's side.
But La Rochelle lock Skelton feels their toughest assignment is to come this week, saying: "We've won two games, we're very aware of that.
"The Test against Scotland is going to be the hardest one yet. We're excited about this weekend and we're looking forward to ripping into it.
"Physically they're up there with the top five in the world. I think set-piece wise they're really strong.
"You've got a guy like Finn Russell who's a maestro at the back there. I think it's going be a close one and we'll be up for it.
"There's some class players in the Scottish team and, when they're at it they're world-class, so we're going to have to be on top of our game."
Wales must 'show courage and front up' against South Africa, says Gatland
Warren Gatland has urged Wales to "show real courage and front up" in their final Autumn Nations clash against South Africa.
Gatland's side bring the curtain down on a disappointing year when they welcome the reigning world champions to the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Wales have lost an unprecedented 11 straight Tests, and could go an entire calendar year without tasting success for the first time since 1937.
Gatland has made four changes from last weekend's 52-20 defeat to Australia, with Sam Costelow, Rio Dyer, Christ Tshiunza and Taine Plumtree all coming into the starting XV.
Gareth Anscombe, Aaron Wainwright and Cameron Winnett drop out of the squad, while Adam Beard misses out through injury.
And Gatland wants his players to demonstrate fighting spirit against the Springboks.
"Last week's result hurts, and we are just as disappointed by it as the fans," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference.
"Our focus now is on training and preparing well for our final game of this Autumn Nations Series.
"There were good elements that we can definitely build on going into Saturday, but we have to improve our accuracy.
"We know what a quality side South Africa are and the physicality they bring. This week, we need to show real courage and front up against the world champions."
Wales promotion 'hasn't sunk in' for Bellamy after 4-1 Iceland win
Wales secured promotion to League A after beating Iceland 4-1 at home in their final Nations League group match, having gone a goal down early on.
Their victory, alongside a 3-1 defeat for Turkiye away to Montenegro, means that Craig Bellamy's side topped their group by a point.
"The feeling hasn't quite sunk in yet, but it's been a real positive camp Whatever the result of this game, it's just been a positive camp," said Bellamy after the match.
"The targets we set right from the start, I feel we've been able to achieve."
Wales started the day knowing they needed to win and for results to go their way to top the group, but went a goal down after seven minutes after Andri Gudjohnsen followed up from a Danny Ward save.
It was the first goal Wales had conceded at home in 321 minutes and the first time they had been behind under Bellamy, but they responded well. The hosts managed to control the rest of the half, with Lewis Cullen scoring twice in the final 15 minutes of the first period.
The determination of his team to stick to the plan was something that pleased Bellamy immensely.
"There were one or two tests today that I feel we've been able to progress [through]. If they had happened one or two games ago, we might not have been able to.
"Where we're at, you go 1-0 down in the first few minutes and you get a performance like that.
"Then after that, when the crowd get a little bit edgy and try to force things for us... No, no. We keep the ball because we believe that's going to benefit us, and the players were able to do that."
In the second half, Wales were able to dominate and bagged goals from Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson to make things more comfortable.
"I thought we took control of the tempo of the game and we're a good team if we're able to do that," said Bellamy.
On promotion itself, the Wales manager could not overstate the importance of being able to mix with the biggest teams in international football in Europe.
"For where we want to be and where we want to go, it's huge. It's so important for us," he said.
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