Ireland back-rower Cian Prendergast will make his first Test start in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up clash with England in Dublin.

The Connacht player, who has won two caps as a replacement, has been selected at number eight, with the influential Caelan Doris providing back-up from the bench.

Andy Farrell has recalled 11 of the team which clinched Six Nations Grand Slam glory against Steve Borthwick’s men in March.

Centre Garry Ringrose and lock Tadhg Beirne, who were both injured for that 29-16 win, and fly-half Ross Byrne join Prendergast in coming in to a strong starting XV.

Munster wing Keith Earls is poised to win his 100th cap from the bench.

Prendergast came on in the first half of Ireland’s 33-17 win over Italy on August 5 in place of the injured Jack Conan.

With Conan still sidelined by a foot issue, the 23-year-old is given a major opportunity to provide competition for key man Doris, who was named man of the match following two tries against the Azzurri.

Head coach Farrell has named a completely different team to the experimental side which began that match.

Caelan Doris shone and Jack Conan suffered an injury scare as Ireland launched their World Cup warm-up fixtures by easing to a 33-17 win over Italy in Dublin.

Back-rower Conan departed the field shortly before half-time and was later pictured in a protective boot on the bench.

Full-back Jimmy O’Brien and scrum-half Craig Casey were also withdrawn for treatment to give head coach Andy Farrell cause for concern ahead of his side’s campaign in France, which kicks off in just five weeks’ time.

An experimental side missing a host of rested stars, in addition to suspended skipper Johnny Sexton, overcame a sloppy beginning to cruise to a 15th successive home victory.

Doris’ two tries, plus scores from Dave Kilcoyne, Stuart McCloskey and Cian Healy, earned victory, while Jack Crowley and debutant Ciaran Frawley kicked six and two points respectively.

Lorenzo Pani and Tommaso Menoncello claimed consolations for Italy but they never threatened to shock the Six Nations champions.

Ireland were back in action for the first time since clinching the Grand Slam against England in March.

Farrell retained only three of the players who began that day as part of an unfamiliar XV, while Italy included England-born debutants Paolo Odogwu and Dino Lamb in a strong selection.

The Aviva Stadium was far from full for the late kick-off and Ireland’s sluggish start, during which Tommaso Allan’s early penalty put the visitors ahead, initially did little to enhance the subdued atmosphere.

Italy lost Saracens prop Marco Riccioni to injury inside 10 minutes and that setback was quickly compounded by Kilcoyne burrowing over at the other end to register his first Test try since November 2014.

The score settled Ireland down to an extent and they capitalised on Italian indiscipline to stretch the scoreboard just before the half-hour mark.

Doris claimed the second try of the evening, crashing over wide on the right, moments after Azzurri loosehead Danilo Fischetti was sin-binned for failing to retreat.

Conan’s 35th-minute departure was an unwelcome sight for Farrell but the hosts’ performance continued to improve, with man-of-the-match Doris proving to be a real menace.

The Leinster man, selected in the unfamiliar position of openside flanker, produced a crushing tackle on Stephen Varney deep inside Italian territory to pave the way for McCloskey to power over.

Crowley landed his third conversion of the evening to make it 21-3 at the interval.

Farrell shuffled his pack slightly for the restart, introducing the uncapped Frawley at fly-half and pushing Crowley to full-back in place of the withdrawn O’Brien, who had received treatment on a shoulder issue.

A further change was required just four minutes later as scrum-half Casey followed Conan and O’Brien into the treatment room.

Italy, whose only Dublin success came in 1997, had struggled for territory in the opening period.

But, on the back of some cheap penalties conceded by Ireland, they reduced their deficit in the 51st minute when Pani was afforded yards of space on the right to charge forward and hold off the attempts of Jacob Stockdale.

Replacement prop Healy then celebrated moving level with Rory Best as Ireland’s third most-capped player on 124 appearances with his 12th international try.

Menoncello again reduced the arrears for Italy 12 minutes from time before the impressive Doris had the final say.

Following a week’s training camp in Portugal, Ireland move to matches against England and Samoa with plenty of positives but some fitness concerns.

Scotland overcame the loss of key duo Ben White and Zander Fagerson to stage a stirring second-half fightback and defeat France 24-21 in an exhilarating World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield.

Les Bleus, who fielded a largely second-string side, looked on course for a comfortable victory as they eased into a 21-3 half-time lead.

But the Scots, despite having Fagerson red-carded early in the second half, roared back to record a morale-boosting win with tries from Darcy Graham, Pierre Schoeman and replacement Dave Cherry.

The shine was taken off the triumph, however, by the sight of scrum-half White limping off with a worrying-looking ankle injury just four weeks out from their World Cup opener against South Africa, while they will also face an anxious wait to learn the fate of prop Fagerson following his dismissal.

Scots head coach Gregor Townsend made 13 changes to the experimental team that defeated Italy a week previously, with most of his big-hitters restored.

Finn Russell was handed the captaincy for the first time in the absence of regular skipper Jamie Ritchie, who missed out with a minor calf injury which medical staff hope will subside in time for next weekend’s rematch between the teams in Saint-Etienne.

The French starting line-up featured three debutants in Paul Boudehent, Emilien Gailleton and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, with Antoine Dupont, Gael Fickou and Romain Ntamack among a raft of established players given the weekend off.

The team selections meant Scotland – despite being ranked three places beneath the French – went into the match as favourites with bookmakers.

The hosts got the scoreboard up and running in the fourth minute when Russell kicked a penalty between the posts.

However, Les Bleus seized the initiative in scintillating fashion in the 14th minute when Baptiste Couilloud was set free to bound over the line after a brilliant break-away down the right involving Bielle-Biarrey and Matthieu Jalibert. The latter made no mistake with the conversion.

The visitors remained in the ascendancy and stretched their advantage after 24 minutes when debutant Bielle-Biarrey found a gap on the left and darted majestically through it after being fed by Jalibert, who duly converted.

Scotland’s woes deepened when White was forced off with an injury after half an hour, replaced by George Horne.

The scrum-half looked dejected as he made his way off the pitch and punched the bench in frustration before having his ankle bandaged up by medics and limping down the tunnel.

The Scots thought they had reduced the deficit in the 33rd minute when Duhan Van Der Merwe found his way over the line, but play was pulled back for a French scrum following a forward pass.

A disastrous first half for the home side was compounded in the last action before the break when Cameron Woki picked the ball up at the back of a ruck and plunged over the line from close range. Jalibert again added the extras.

Scotland started the second period in brighter fashion, with Graham running on to a cross-field kick from Russell and just doing enough to plant the ball down under pressure from Ethan Dumortier. Following a TMO review to approve the score, Russell kicked the conversion.

Just as the hosts looked to be finding their way back into the match, though, they suffered another blow in the 50th minute when Fagerson was sin-binned for a high challenge on Pierre Bourgarit. Following a bunker review, the offence was subsequently upgraded to a red card.

However, the 14 men further reduced the French lead in the 54th minute as Pierre Schoeman bulldozed his way through to touch the ball down, with Russell converting.

The Scots were rampant and they thought they had got their noses in front when Blair Kinghorn bolted in behind the posts, but it was ruled out for a knock-on by Graham.

Remarkably, however, they did get themselves ahead in the 67th minute when substitute Cherry pushed his way over. This time Russell hit the post with his conversion attempt.

The captain was more accurate six minutes later as his penalty gave the Scots a four-point lead before they withstood some late French pressure to see out the win.

Darcy Graham marked his return to the international fold with a double as an experimental Scotland side defeated Italy 25-13 in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield.

The 26-year-old Edinburgh wing missed the entire Six Nations with a knee injury but – after scoring a hat-trick in his last match for the Scots against Argentina in November – he picked up where he left off with a couple of clinical touchdowns to put the Azzurri to the sword.

Replacement Josh Bayliss sealed the victory with the Scots’ third try in the last play of the match after Montanna Ioane’s score just after the hour had given the Italians hope.

Graham was one of the few established starters in Gregor Townsend’s XV as he allowed several of his key players the weekend off ahead of the upcoming double-header against World Cup hosts France.

Glasgow centre Stafford McDowall was given his international debut while Glasgow prop Murphy Walker and Edinburgh fly-half Ben Healy – both previously capped – made their first starts.

It looked like it might be a difficult afternoon for the Scots when the visitors instantly got themselves on the front foot and had their hosts penned inside their own half for the opening five minutes.

However, the hosts burst into life after six minutes when Healy, working off a turnover, kicked a ball into space for Graham to chase down but the rapid Edinburgh wing was thwarted by some impressive defending just as he looked set to get himself clear.

The same two players combined as the hosts made the breakthrough in the 13th minute. Healy again kicked wide to the right, picking out Graham who was already beyond the try-line as he received the ball before helping himself to a straightforward touchdown. Healy was unable to add the extras as his conversion attempt went wide.

However, the Azzurri managed to get themselves in front by half-time courtesy of a couple of penalties from Tommaso Allan, the Harlequins stand-off who has a Scottish father as well as an uncle capped nine times by Scotland in the early 1990s.

Allan reduced the deficit with a close-range effort in the 26th minute and then in the last action of a largely underwhelming first half the number 10 sent another kick soaring between the posts from inside Scotland’s 10-metre line.

Scotland got themselves back in front eight minutes after the interval when Healy pinged over a penalty. And in the 55th minute, Graham scored his second try of the match when he received a reverse pass from Ali Price and bounded over the line. Healy was accurate with the conversion as the Scots opened up a 15-6 advantage.

Italy got back into the match just after the hour, however, when Ioane went over on the left after a lovely pass from Allan, who duly converted.

Leicester lock Cam Henderson became the second Scotland debutant of the afternoon when he replaced Scott Cummings and the hosts regained control when Healy kicked another penalty in the 74th minute.

The Scots finished on a high note, with substitute Bayliss scoring his first international try – converted by the impressive Healy – in the last action of the match.