Ireland have made four changes to the team that defeated Scotland earlier this month with David Kilcoyne, Sean Cronin, Ultan Dillane and Jordi Murphy all brought into the starting side.
Ireland got their Six Nations campaign back on track with a 22-13 win over Scotland in Edinburgh following an opening round loss to England and head coach Joe Schmidt is taking no big risks against Italy this Sunday by naming a near full strength side.
Peter O’Mahony will captain the team in the absence of Rory Best while the uncapped Jack Carty could make his test debut after being named on the bench.
Ireland Team & Replacements (v Italy, 2019 Guinness Six Nations Championship, Stadio Olimpico, Rome KO 4pm local/3pm Irish)
15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 88 caps
14. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 74 caps
13. Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster) 4 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 14 caps
11. Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 16 caps
10. Jonathan Sexton (St Marys College/Leinster) 80 caps (vc)
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 69 caps
1. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 26 caps
2. Sean Cronin (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 67 caps
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 30 caps
4. Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) 12 caps
5. Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 10 caps
6. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 54 caps (c)
7. Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster) 54 caps
8. Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Ulster) 26 caps
Replacements
16. Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 11 caps
17. Jack McGrath (St Marys College/Leinster) 53 caps
18. John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 16 caps
19. Iain Henderson (Queens University/Ulster) 42 caps
20. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 15 caps
21. John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 6 caps
22. Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht)*
23. Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 10 caps
*denotes uncapped player
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