Video: Joe Schmidt Explains The Three Changes Made For Ireland v England
Joe Schmidt has shuffled his pack for the visit of England to the Aviva Stadium for Saturday’s Six Nations clash.
The shoulder stinger injury which Conor Murray had completely recovered from according to management on Monday, has forced the scrum-half out of the game.
Head coach Joe Schmidt explained the decision to leave Murray out in favour of Connacht’s Kieran Marmion:
“He trained ok on Tuesday without contact and then we fitness tested him today and just felt that he wasn't going to be quite 100%.
"Not that he couldn't function, just that once contact came back in and he got more bruising on top of bruising on that shoulder, we just felt that if we lost him early in the game, then you're vulnerable.
"It's a fantastic opportunity for Kieran Marmion.”
The other change is unenforced with Devin Toner dropped from the second-row. Hs place goes to Ulster’s Iain Henderson:
Schmidt explained the surprise call to dump one of his loyal lieutenants: “Iain Henderson came off the bench and did really well last week, between Donnacha and Dev we just wanted to give him an opportunity to start it was a tight call as to how we jumbled that around.
“Donnacha also played well last week, not that Dev played badly it was just trying to get that balance. He’s come in for that
“Rob Kearney has got a knee injury and is unavailable to be selected hence Jared Payne has come in in his position.”