Kilcoyne & Zebo To Start Against Scotland

Ireland continue preparations for this year’s Rugby World Cup when they welcome Scotland to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday – KO 5pm. In naming his side, Ireland Head Coach Joe Schmidt has included three Munster players in the matchday 23.

Dave Kilcoyne and Simon Zebo are both promoted to the starting XV at loosehead and full-back respectively, while Irish squad captain Paul O’Connell – who departs the province for Toulon following the World Cup – is named amongst the replacements.

Looking ahead to this weekend’s challenge, Kilcoyne commented, “It’s about making the most of the minutes you have on the pitch. If you get distracted, worrying about outside influences, things out of your control, you lose focus. Everyone’s mind is on the game at the moment.

“There will be new combinations (from last weekend) and so it’s about making it a seamless transition and executing our game plan to the best of our ability. Scotland are going to be gunning for it – it’s their first run out, so it will be a very physical game.”

IRELAND v Scotland, Guinness Summer Series, Saturday August 15^th at the Aviva Stadium – KO 5pm.

15. Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)
14. Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
13. Jared Payne (Ulster)
12. Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11. Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock/Leinster)
10. Ian Madigan (Blackrock/Leinster)
9. Isaac Boss (Terenure/Leinster)

8. Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster) capt
7. Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster)
6. Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)*
5. Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)
4. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
3. Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
2. Sean Cronin (St Mary's College/Leinster)
1. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster)

Replacements
16. Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster)
17. Michael Bent (Dublin University/Leinster)
18. Nathan White (Connacht)*
19. Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
20. Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21. Eoin Reddan (Old Crescent/Leinster)
22. Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster)
23. Dave Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster)