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23rd November 2020
07:18pm GMT

"Well, you talk about tough and sometimes you have to take the ball up into a brick wall and take your medicine. The amount of times that Caelan Doris came out the other side was unbelievable, the amount of times that he kept offering himself. "And James Ryan being captain for the first time, what an experience for him, I thought he played tough, he played really tough. And for the lads playing here for the first time, starting here for the first time like Jamison (Gibson-Park) and Hugo (Keenan), Billy (Burns) etcetera, they're all going to be bigger and better for this experience also."
With Georgia coming to the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, Farrell may opt to give the relative international newcomers an extra run out. He may also be keen to try out new combinations while several senior players will be itching to get back in the starting XV.
For us, it would be great to see Stuart McCloskey team up with Chris Farrell in midfield and, if Farrell is serious about it, Jacob Stockdale get another Test rugby run-out at 15. To give McCloskey a fair rattle, it would be nice to see Billy Burns get his first start at outhalf.
In the pack, Iain Henderson will be pounding down Farrell's door for a start, while Josh van der Flier, Rob Herring and Andrew Conway will be making their presence felt in training, early this week. The Georgians have a sturdy pack, so we are going with a strong front five for the opening 50-55 minutes.
On the bench, Eric O'Sullivan (Ulster) and Shane Daly (Munster) would be a couple of deserving Test debutants. All told, nine changes and CJ Stander returning to his preferred No.8 spot.
15. Jacob Stockdale 14. Andrew Conway 13. Chris Farrell 12. Stuart McCloskey 11. James Lowe 10. Billy Burns 9. Jamison Gibson-Park 1. Cian Healy 2. Rob Herring 3. Andrew Porter 4. Tadhg Beirne 5. Iain Henderson (c) 6. Will Connors 7. Josh van der Flier 8. CJ StanderSubs: Ronan Kelleher, Eric O'Sullivan, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray, Ross Byrne, Shane Daly.
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