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.
Bellamy earns maiden Wales win in 'toughest game of his career'
Craig Bellamy praised his players for overcoming some of the toughest conditions he has witnessed to earn him his first win as Wales head coach against Montenegro in the Nations League.
Kieffer Moore opened the scoring after just 36 seconds at the Stadion Kraj Bistrice, with Wales netting inside a minute for the first time since Robert Earnshaw in 2004.
But the Dragons doubled their advantage with two minutes and 27 seconds on the clock, this time Harry Wilson found the back of the net with a fine finish from distance.
It was the first time Wales had scored twice within the opening three minutes of a game since April 1961 against Northern Ireland to give Bellamy a dream start.
However, the conditions in Montenegro were far from ideal, with the rain-soaked pitch allowing Driton Camaj to pull one back for the hosts in the 73rd minute.
Wales were able to see out the remaining minutes to seal their first win of their Nations League campaign, building on their impressive showing against Turkiye.
"These are the toughest conditions I've been in. Nothing about coming here has been easy," Bellamy said.
"You could have had a lot of excuses about this trip. The change of venue, the travel here, a bus driver who took his time, the conditions. But sometimes you learn from it.
"There is a reason why this group have qualified for major tournaments. It wasn't a football match. The conditions weren't going to allow it."
Wales are now unbeaten in their last eight competitive fixtures (W4 D4), their longest such run since a run of 11 between September 2019 and November 2020.
Bellamy's appointment has seemingly revitalised Welsh football, with his expansive and exciting style of play catching the eyes of those across Europe.
The Dragons return to action next month when they face Iceland and Montenegro once again, something that Bellamy is already counting down the days for.
"Last night I was really excited about the game but also sad as it ends tomorrow," Bellamy said.
"What happens on Tuesday? They're all going to leave me and I don't want them to go.
"You want your first win of course and you want it quick. Longer-term I see us being able to affect games in a positive way."
Australia 'fell off a cliff' in biggest-ever Test defeat
Australia suffered their biggest-ever Test defeat on Saturday, as Argentina came from behind to win 67-27 in the Rugby Championship.
And Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said his team simply "fell off a cliff" after taking a 17-point lead.
Having snapped an eight-game winless run in the Rugby Championship with their last-gasp victory over Argentina last week, Australia were looking to keep the momentum going.
And they looked well set to do just that as tries from Carlo Tizzano and Andrew Kellaway propelled them into a 20-3 lead.
But Mateo Carreras and Julian Montoya, who was playing for Argentina for the 100th time, dragged Argentina back into it and paved the way for Australia's capitulation after the break.
Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo, Juan Cruz Mallia and Lucio Cinti all crossed for the Pumas in the second half, with Santiago Carreras' conversion condemning Australia to their record defeat.
"To lead a Test match 20-3 and get run down in the manner which we did is really disappointing," said Schmidt.
"We cannot let a game get away from us like it did and fall off a cliff.
"We lost connection in our defensive line. We were forever chasing them.
"We didn't put enough pressure on at the breakdown, so they were operating off a lightning-quick ball, and it's just too difficult to keep chasing a team on a hot day when they’ve got the ball and going forward."
Australia's previous record Test defeat had come against South Africa in 1997.
Matters do not get any easier for the Wallabies, who now face two matches against Schmidt's native New Zealand as they aim to avoid finishing bottom of the pile.
Second-place Argentina, meanwhile, will tussle it out with Rugby Championship leaders South Africa.
Kolisi 'had to prove himself' in landmark South Africa triumph
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi said he had to prove himself after being given the chance to lead the Springboks out in their Rugby Championship win over New Zealand.
Kolisi's early try after the break sparked the hosts' revival after they went in at half-time 9-3 down before roaring to an 18-12 victory in Cape Town.
It was the fourth successive win by the Springboks over the All Blacks, as they maintained their perfect record in this year's Rugby Championship.
Kolisi described the encounter as South Africa's most important game since they won the World Cup final against the same opponents in Paris last year.
"The coach gave me the chance when I said I was okay so I couldn’t go half-hearted. Nobody is going to celebrate you if you don’t go flat out," said Kolisi.
"We didn’t start the way we wanted to and the coach was quite honest with us [at half-time]. At the start of the second half we did what we wanted.
"This game was really big for us."
The triumph marked the first time since 1949 that South Africa have won four straight Tests against New Zealand.
However, head coach Rassie Erasmus was muted despite achieving the most successful streak against South Africa's arch-rivals in the professional era.
"It was nice, but they have had big scores against us and six times in a row they have beaten us," he said.
"It's nothing to brag about because they have done worse to us. But it was special."
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