Herring, Henderson and Stockdale to start for Ireland in Six Nations opener

Ireland Head Coach, Andy Farrell has named his first match day selection for Ireland’s opening fixture of the Guinness Six Nations against Scotland. Ulster’s Rob Herring, Iain Henderson and Jacob Stockdale all start, with John Cooney named among the replacements. Farrell has also included two uncapped players in the squad. Former Ireland U20 Captain, Caelan Doris will make his Ireland debut on Saturday evening when he lines out at No. 8. The Leinster man is joined in the backrow by CJ Stander and Josh van der Flier. The front row is made up of Cian Healy, Rob Herring and Tadgh Furlong with Iain Henderson and James Ryan named at lock. Ireland captain, Johnny Sexton is joined at half-back by Conor Murray. Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose are named in the centre with Jacob Stockdale and Andrew Conway on the wings. Jordan Larmour is named at full-back. The other uncapped player is Ronan Kelleher (pictured below with Rob Herring) who is named as the replacement hooker. Kelleher is joined in the replacements by Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Devin Toner, Peter O’Mahony, John Cooney, Ross Byrne and Robbie Henshaw. Ireland Team & Replacements (v Scotland, Guinness Six Nations Championship, Aviva Stadium, Saturday 1st February 2020, KO 16.45) 15. Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 21 caps 14. Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 18 caps 13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 28 caps 12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 23 caps 11. Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 25 caps 10. Jonathan Sexton (St Marys College/Leinster) 88 caps Captain 9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 78 caps 1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 95 caps 2. Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 8 caps 3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 41 caps 4. Iain Henderson (Academy RFC/Ulster) 53 caps 5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 23 caps 6. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 38 caps 7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 23 caps 8. Caelan Doris (UCD/Leinster)* Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)* 17. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 36 caps 18. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 23 caps 19. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 67 caps 20. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 64 caps 21. John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 8 caps 22. Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) 3 caps 23. Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 40 caps *Denotes uncapped at this level Ireland Guinness Six Nations 2020 Fixtures & Kick-off Times IRELAND v Scotland Saturday 1st February, 2020, Aviva Stadium, KO 16:45 IRELAND v Wales Saturday 8th February, 2020, Aviva Stadium, KO 14:15 England v IRELAND Sunday 23rd February, 2020, Twickenham Stadium, KO 15:00 IRELAND v Italy Saturday 7th March, 2020, Aviva Stadium, KO 14:15 France v IRELAND Saturday 14th March, 2020, Stade de France, KO 20:00 Official Live Broadcasters Virgin, ITV, BBC*, RTE Radio *BBC will only televise live the game from Paris all other Ireland games available live in the UK via ITV