Fergus McFadden will start for Ireland against Russia.
Coach Declan Kidney has named a radically different Irish team for the Pool C clash with Russia at Rotorua on Sunday.
There are ten changes from the team who started against Australia in Auckland last weekend.
Captain Brian O’Driscoll will sit out the match along with Stephen Ferris, Paul O’Connell and Gordon Darcy.
Leinster veteran Leo Cullen will captain Ireland in his first Rugby World Cup appearance.
Fergus McFadden makes his first appearance in a Rugby World Cup and starts on the right wing.
Keith Earls moves from the wing to outside centre alongside Paddy Wallace, who also makes his debut in the tournament. Andrew Trimble is named on the left wing, while Ronan O’Gara and Isaac Boss start as the halfback partnership.
Sean Cronin makes the switch with Rory Best from the replacements to start at hooker, with Tony Buckley also making his first start at tight head prop.
There is a change in the back row as Donnacha Ryan starts at blind side in place of Stephen Ferris. The final change to the side is Leo Cullen, who comes into the team in place of Paul O’Connell and will also have the honour of captaining the team in his first Rugby World Cup appearance.
The team is:
15 – Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 – Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)*
13 – Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
12 – Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)*
11 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
9 – Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster)
1 – Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 – Sean Cronin (Leinster)
3 – Tony Buckley (Sale)
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 – Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)* Captain
6 – Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
7 – Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 – Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
17 – Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
18 – Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
19 – Shane Jennings (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
20 – Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 – Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
22 – Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
Live coverage of the match can be seen on FoxSports from 3pm, Sunday September 23.
