Eight Ireland players have been selected in the British & Irish Lions starting XV to face Western Force in the first fixture of the squad\u2019s Australia tour on Saturday. The Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan will lead out the team on his Lions debut with eight more first-time Lions featuring in the matchday 23 and 20-year-old Henry Pollock handed a start at number eight.<\/p>\n
Sheehan will be among those making his Lions debut alongside his club-mates Garry Ringrose, James Lowe, Joe McCarthy and Josh van der Flier. The bench contains another four newcomers in the shape of England\u2019s Ollie Chessum and Will Stuart, Scotland\u2019s Huw Jones and Ireland\u2019s Andrew Porter.<\/p>\n
skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Finn Russell slots in at fly-half but there is no place in the 23 for Jamison Gibson-Park or James Ryan, both of whom have been recuperating from slight injuries. Sione Tuipulotu and Tadhg Beirne will start their second consecutive games having faced Argentina last Friday, with Beirne at blindside flanker alongside the youthful Pollock who will be invited to add pace and dynamism to the back-row equation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have had a good week of training and all of the travel and time zone changes have been managed really well, so we are good to go,\u201d coach Andy Farrell<\/a> said. \u201cDan Sheehan gets the opportunity to lead the side against Western Force, which is a great honour for him and his family \u2013 so congratulations to Dan as he captains the side on his Lions debut.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know the quality and experience the Force have. The opportunity to play against the Lions always brings out special performances from the Super Rugby sides, so we expect them to be at their best.\u201d<\/p>\n Quick GuideWestern Force and Lions XVsShow<\/p>\n Western Force:<\/b> Donaldson; Grealy, Proctor, Stewart, Pietsch; Harford, White (capt); Robertson, Paenga-Amosa, Hoskins, Carter, Swain, Harris, Champion de Crespigny, Ekuasi.<\/p>\n Replacements: Dolly, Pearce, Tauakipulu, Faifua, Prinsep, Robertson, Burey, Kuenzle.<\/p>\n British & Irish Lions:<\/b> Daly; Hansen, Ringrose, Tuipulotu, Lowe; Russell, Williams; Schoeman, Sheehan, Furlong, Cummings, McCarthy, Beirne, Van der Flier, Pollock.<\/p>\n Replacements: Kelleher, Porter, Stuart, Chessum, Conan, Mitchell, Jones, M Smith.<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n