Ireland: Andy Farrell makes surprise selection as rookie debuts against Springboks

Ireland have named the uncapped Leinster centre Jamie Osborne at full-back for Saturday’s clash with the Springboks at a sold-out Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

Osborne is joined in the back three by the experienced James Lowe (Leinster) and Calvin Nash (Munster) as Ireland look to seal their fourth successive win over the Boks.

Ireland will be led by captain Peter O’Mahony with Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris forming a familiar back-row trio for the opening Test against the world champions.

Strong lock duo

In front of that trio will be Leinster’s Joe McCarthy and Munster’s Tadhg Beirne while Leinster trio Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong make up the front-row.

Returning to the backline and there is an all-Munster partnership in the half-backs as Craig Casey replaces the injured Jamison Gibson-Park inside fly-half Jack Crowley.

Springboks stick to tradition donning white jerseys against Ireland

Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw start in the midfield, and there is cover on the bench from the likes of Ciaran Frawley and Garry Ringrose in the fly-half/centre positions.

Elsewhere on the Irish bench, head coach Andy Farrell has picked Ronan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Ryan Baird and Conor Murray for the opener.

As mentioned, Ireland have come out on top in each of their most recent three meetings with the Springboks, winning the 2023 Rugby World Cup pool stage game 13-8.

Rassie Erasmus named his team for this weekend’s game on Tuesday as he included 20 Rugby World Cup winners in his matchday 23 led by the returning Siya Kolisi.

Following Saturday’s showdown in Pretoria the two teams will square off on Saturday, July 13 at Kings Park in Durban as the series comes to a mouth-watering finale.

Ireland team

Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Garry Ringrose

Date: Saturday, July 6
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17:00 local (16:00 BST)
Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Mike Adamson (SRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

READ MORE: Bernard Jackman: ‘Suffocating’ Springboks tactics is why they aren’t ‘lauded’ as much as the great All Blacks