Joe Schmidt has given some new faces a chance to shine…
Robbie Diack will make his first appearance for Ireland in their series opener against Argentina on Saturday, the Ulster man will start in the back row alongside Chris Henry and Jordi Murphy.
There are two further uncapped players on the bench as Connacht duo Kieran Marmion and Rodney Ah You hope to claim their first caps.
The team in full: 15. Felix Jones, 14. Andrew Trimble, 13. Darren Cave, 12. Luke Marshall, 11. Simon Zebo, 10. Jonathan Sexton, 9. Conor Murray, 1. Jack McGrath, 2. Rory Best, 3. Mike Ross, 4. Iain Henderson, 5. Paul O’Connell, 6. Robbie Diack, 7. Chris Henry, 8. Jordi Murphy.
Replacement: 16. Damien Varley, 17. Dave Kilcoyne, 18. Rodney Ah You, 19. Devin Toner, 20. Jamie Heaslip, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Ian Madigan, 23. Fergus McFadden.
Meanwhile, Argentina are coming into the game on the back of another South American Cup win. They hammered Uruguay 65-9 and Chile 73-12 running in 21 tries in those games.
The opposition may have been weak but the main thing for the Argentine squad is that they’ve been together as a group for a month, and even though they’re made up mostly of domestic players, they’ll still be a good test for Schmidt’s side.
The game at the Estadio Centenario in Resistencia kicks off at 7.40pm Irish time on Saturday.
