Ireland Team To Play Canada
The Ireland team to play Canada at the BMO Stadium in Toronto on Saturday night has been named. The selected side shows a seven changes from last weekend’s win over the USA as Les Kiss’ charges prepare for the final Test of the season.
There is another new cap for this game as James Downey dons the green jersey for the first time alongside Darren Cave in a new centre partnership.
Andrew Trimble will win his 50th cap for Ireland in a back-three that includes Fergus McFadden and Felix Jones.
Tom Court links up with hooker Richardt Strauss and Mike Ross in the front row, while Dan Tuohy forms a new second row pairing with Devin Toner.
Tommy O’Donnell starts at openside flanker having won his first cap last weekend, with Kevin McLaughlin and summer tour captain Peter O’Mahony completing the back row.
Speaking ahead of the Toronto clash, Ireland’s interim head coach Les Kiss said: “We are anticipating a tough game against a very good Canada side that have put together a run of three wins in the Pacific Nations Cup.
“The experience gained on this tour is invaluable and I have no doubt that the players will respond well in what will be another challenging test.”
The Test match will be broadcast live on TG4 with the ‘Rugbaí Beo’ coverage getting underway at 12.50am (Sunday morning).
Highlights and behind the scenes footage from the Irish summer tour so far can be seen on www.youtube.com/O2Rugby.
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Canada, BMO Stadium, Toronto, Summer Tour Test, Saturday, June 15, kick-off 8pm local time/1am Irish time):
Player/Club/Province/Caps –
15. Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster) 4
14. Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 18
13. Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 4
12. James Downey (Dolphin/Munster) *
11. Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster) 49
10. Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster) 3
9. Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster) 16
1. Tom Court (Malone/Ulster) 31
2. Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster) 3
3. Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster) 30
4. Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster) 6
5. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 6
6. Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 5
7. Tommy O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster) 1
8. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) (capt) 15
Replacements:
16. Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 26
17. David Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 7
18. Declan Fitzpatrick (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 4
19. Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht) 11
20. Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster) 7
21. Paul Marshall (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 2
22. Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster) 3
23. Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht) 1
* Denotes uncapped player