Irish under-20 coach Eric Elwood has brought in Stephen Archer for tomorrow night's Junior World Championship play-off against Italy at the Arms Park in Cardiff.
The UCC prop comes into the front row with Ben Barclay dropping to the replacement's bench.
Having missed out on the semi-finals following defeats to Argentina and New Zealand earlier in the competition, Elwood is nevertheless determined to finish the on a high note in the two remaining play-offs.
"We knew coming into this competition we had some tough battles ahead of us," Elwood said today. "Even though we didn't get the result we would have liked, the boys gained valuable experience which will stand to us in the play-offs.
We are focused on winning both remaining games to finish in ninth position to ensure a good seeding for next year."
Ireland (v Italy): Niall Morris; David Kearney, Eoin O'Malley, Conor Cleary, Chris Cochrane; Martin Dufficy, Ian Porter; Paul Karayiannis, Jason Harris-Wright, Stephen Archer; Ian Nagle, Eoin Sheriff; Kieran Essex, Paul Ryan, Patrick Mallon. Replacements: Stephen Douglas, Ben Barclay, James Sandford, Michael Entwistle, David Moore, Ian Madigan, Jamie Smith.
