Joe Schmidt has named the Ireland team to take on Italy in their third Rugby World Cup game this weekend.

Robbie Henshaw returns from a hamstring injury to make his first appearance at the World Cup at inside centre, but his Six Nations partner, Jared Payne, hasn’t recovered from an injury sustained against Romania in time and so Keith Earls starts outside him.

It means Tommy Bowe is rewarded for his brace in that game with a starting spot on the wing, while Simon Zebo also starts at fullback with Rob Kearney failing to recover from an injury.

Iain Henderson is preferred to Devin Toner to partner Paul O’Connell in the engine room, while Cian Healy continues his return from injury from the bench.

IRELAND TEAM TO PLAY ITALY

15 Simon Zebo, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Paul O’Connell (c), 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Nathan White, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald

Date: Sunday, October 4
Venue: Olympic Stadium, London
Kick-off: 16:45 local
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images