Henderson replaces O’Mahony as Sexton gets all-clear

One enforced change for Ireland then. But an Italian XV without the “rested” Sergio Parisse is today’s real story.

That can be compared to Ireland taking the field without Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell. The Stade Francais number eight is that important. One clever tweeter compared it to Ferrari resting their car for a Grand Prix.

It brings into question Italy’s collective mindset and certainly confidence levels.

Iain Henderson's selection in Ireland's backrow – although temporary as Joe Schmidt is confident that Peter O'Mahony will return for Paris – means the versatile Ulster man is preferred over Rhys Ruddock.

"If this was the last game of the Six Nations we might have risked Peter," said Schmidt. "But we just felt there was a risk and therefore it was better to save him for next week."

Ruddock, the in-form Leinster blindside, does claw his way onto the bench with Henderson covering lock and Jordi Murphy also hanging on in as openside and number eight cover.

It’s also worth noting that only two Munster men – Paul O’Connell and Conor Murray – make the matchday squad.

Schmidt did feel obliged to name check excluded, and presumably angry, locks Mike McCarthy and Donnacha Ryan.

This begs the question whether Henderson’s future lies in the engine room or tearing off the scrum.

“We are kind of muddling our way through that to be honest. We think Iain is athletic enough to play six and a fantastic lineout option to have there. It is why we didn’t select a secondrow option on the bench.

“We felt that Iain might finish the game in the secondrow and that gives us a chance to look at him in both positions.

“I don’t think Ulster have quite worked out where he fits either.”

The return of Stephen Ferris for the Ulster Ravens against Leinster A next Monday might sort that decision out once and for all.

“I think the start will be great for him,” said Paul O’Connell in reference to seven of Henderson’s eight caps coming as a replacement. “He is a great player. He has a real laid back way about him. A brilliant athlete, strong man, clever rugby player as well. I’m sure he is going to play really well and be a big asset for Ireland going forward.”

Another interesting non-selection is Tommy Bowe who, all things being equal, is poised to return at right wing for what could be the championship decider in Paris on Saturday week.

Bowe trained with the Ireland squad today.

“It was just to get Tommy involved,” Schmidt explained. “He had the three Tests in November so it was just to get him up to speed. He had no ill effects from training with us. He did have a few days off because he tightened a bit in the Ulster game last Friday.

“We certainly want to keep him involved in the wider group. If we come to next Monday and we feel we need Tommy to add more value or to cover someone who might be in doubt it is great that we had him in today.”

Andrew Trimble will need to at least reach the performance levels he showed against Wales to keep the jersey.

Schmidt ruled out any concerns about Jonathan Sexton’s “bruised” thumb and Brian O’Driscoll’s calf ahead of his record-breaking and final Test match in Dublin.

“I think he is a bit embarrassed by it all,” O’Connell added. “He is working hard and looking after his body so he just wants to focus on that. He is a quiet guy, understated guy so he just wants to focus on finishing as well as he can.

“It is something that is definitely in the back of your mind. It is hard to get away from at the moment. It is hard to think what life would be like without him. There has been very little mention of it from staff, players or Brian himself. I’m sure that’s the way he likes it.”

Ireland’s group focus is presumably on racking up a high score against an Italian team stripped of their best player and captain (also, their most cutting three-quarter Andrea Masi of Wasps only makes the reserves after injury).

“It we can get some points on the board, that’s great, but I think we would be naive to expect Italy to lie down,” Schmidt added. “That’s just not going to happen.”

Robert Barbieri starts at number eight with Marco Bortolami taking over the captaincy but it just feels like Scotland’s last-gasp defeat of Italy has irreparably fractured their campaign.

IRELAND (v Italy, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, 2.30pm): R Kearney (Leinster); A Trimble (Ulster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster), G D'Arcy (Leinster), D Kearney (Leinster); J Sexton (Racing Metro), C Murray (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Leinster); D Toner (Leinster), P O'Connell (Munster, capt); I Henderson (Ulster), C Henry (Ulster), J Heaslip (Leinster).

Replacements: S Cronin (Leinster), J McGrath (Leinster), M Moore (Leinster), R Ruddock (Leinster), J Murphy (Leinster), E Reddan (Leinster), P Jackson (Ulster), F McFadden (Leinster).

ITALY: L McClean (Treviso); A Esposito (Treviso), M Campagnaro (Treviso), G Garcia (Zebre), L Sarto (Zebre); L Orquera (Zebre), T Tebaldi (Ospreys); A de Marchi (Treviso), L Ghiraldini (Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Toulon); Q Geldenhuys (Zebre), M Bortolami (Zebre); J Furno (Biarritz), P Derbyshire (Treviso), R Barbieri (Treviso).

Replacements: D Giazzon (Zebre), M Rizzo (Treviso), L Cittadini (Treviso), A Pavanello (Treviso), M Vosawai (Treviso), E Gori (Treviso), T Allan (Perpignan), A Masi (Walps).