O'Mahony and Aki set for landmark caps - Ireland name team to play ...

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has named his match-day 23 to face South Africa in Pool B at Stade de France on Saturday, 23 September.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has named the 23 players to face South Africa in Pool B at Stade de France on Saturday, 23 September, with back-row Peter O'Mahony winning his 100th test cap and centre Bundee Aki earning his 50th.

1 Andrew Porter2 Ronan Kelleher3 Tadhg Furlong4 Tadhg Beirne5 James Ryan6 Peter O'Mahony7 Josh van der Flier8 Caelan Doris9 Jamison Gibson-Park10 Johnny Sexton (c)11 James Lowe12 Bundee Aki13 Garry Ringrose14 Mack Hansen15 Hugo Keenan

Replacements:16 Dan Sheehan17 Dave Kilcoyne18 Finlay Bealham19 Iain Henderson20 Ryan Baird21 Conor Murray22 Jack Crowley23 Robbie Henshaw

Peter O’Mahony will bring up a century of test caps following his 98 caps for Ireland and one for the British and Irish Lions. Jamison Gibson-Park replaces Conor Murray at scrum-half in the only change to the starting XV that took on Tonga. Murray takes Craig Casey’s place among the replacements.  Eleven of the players who started Ireland’s 19-16 win over South Africa in their last meeting in Dublin in November 2022 are once again included in the run-on team (props Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong, second-rows Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan, back-rowers Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris, fly-half Johnny Sexton, centre Garry Ringrose, winger Mack Hansen – on the left wing rather than the right - and full-back Hugo Keenan). Johnny Sexton became Ireland’s record points scorer (1,090 points) when he scored a try in the 38th minute of the round two 59-16 win against Tonga. The previous record holder, Ronan O’Gara, achieved his 1,083 points in 128 tests for Ireland whereas Sexton has got to his milestone in just 115. Bundee Aki is bidding to become the first centre to finish the tournament as top try-scorer. He currently leads the way with four. As a combination, Aki and outside-centre Garry Ringrose have proved to be a formidable force. Ireland have won 18 of the 22 tests they have started together.