Declan Kidney and his Ireland coaching staff have made seven changes to the Ireland A side to face the England Saxons in the Churchill Cup final tomorrow night (9.30pm Irish time).

Four of those changes are in the backline, where Denis Hurley , Keith Matthews, Isaac Boss and Jonathan Sexton start.

Up front, Chris Henry comes into the team at number eight, Devon Toner returns to the second row Sean Cronin replaces Dennis Fogarty is at hooker.

“Sunday is a massive challenge for the team to play the defending Churchill Cup champions, but one they are all looking forward to,” Kidney said today.

“England has huge strength in depth and could easily put out another two or three sides of similar strength, so it will require a really good performance from us. England has been impressive in their first two games and I am sure they will want to retain their title which will give them a three -in-a row”.

“The games in the Churchill Cup and the senior tour were all about exposing the players to international level rugby and also allowing the coaches to work with the players more closely. The pervious two games allowed us to do that and it has been a good experience for all of us”.

Ireland A: Felix Jones (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster), Fergus McFadden (UCD/Leinster), Keith Matthews (Buccaneers/Connacht), Johne Murphy (Leicester); Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary's College/Leinster), Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht), Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster); Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Devon Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster); Neil Best (Northampton Saints), Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster), Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)

Replacements: Dennis Fogarty (Cork Constitution/Munster), Bryan Young (Ballymena/Ulster), Trevor Hogan (Blackrock College/Leinster), John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht), Simon Keogh (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Niall O'Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), James Downey (Northampton Saints)