Ireland Include Trimble And Sexton

The Ireland team to play England in the final game of the RBS 6 Nations Championship at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 5pm). has been named.

There are two changes in personnel in the back-line and also a positional switch. Keith Earls moves to full-back in place of Luke Fitzgerald.

Andrew Trimble comes into the team on the left wing for his first start in this year’s Championship. Jonathan Sexton will start the game at out-half, with Ronan O’Gara moving to the replacements bench.

Eoin Reddan has made good progress from the concussion he received in last Saturday’s match against Wales and will visit a neurologist this week to confirm he is fit to play.

The pack is unchanged for the fourth successive game, with lock Paul O’Connell set to win his 75th cap.

Commenting on the team selection, head coach Declan Kidney said: “If Luke has made any errors recently it’s probably because he’s tried too hard. He’s probably been outstretching himself and his timing is just a small bit off.

“Andrew has been knocking on the door for quite some time, Keith has been going well and I just think it’s a good combination for us to have this weekend.

“Andrew was showing great form up to the Six Nations, he was going really well for Ulster and then picked up an unfortunate bang. He’s fought his way back through matches with Ulster and training with ourselves to justify his place.

“We’ve two good number 10s in Jonathan and Ronan. In the same way that I felt after the French match that it was right to give Ronan a go there, he got the next two…I just feel it’s the right time to give Jonathan a start here.”

Brian O’Driscoll, who will captain Ireland for the 75th time this weekend, added: “I’m really looking forward to Saturday. You always look forward to playing against the best sides and more often than not England are one of those.

“It’s the first game for them at the Aviva Stadium. It’s been a bit of a topsy turvy Six Nations for us, so hopefully we can finish off with a good performance and the result to match.”

IRELAND Team & Replacements (v England, 2011 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, March 19, kick-off 5pm):

15 – Keith Earls (Thomond/Munster)
14 – Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 – Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 – Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
9 – Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
1 – Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 – Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 – Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 – Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 – Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
7 – David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:

16 – Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
17 – Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 – Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
19 – Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 – Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
21 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 – Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)