JAMES COUGHLAN WILL captain the Ireland Wolfhounds team to play the England Saxons on Friday.
The team will feature Rob Henshaw at fullback with Dave McSharry and Darren Cave in the midfield. Paddy Jackson and Paul Marshall of Ulster make up the half-back pairing.
Coughlan, who starts at Number 8, said he was ‘incredibly honoured’ to be named captain for the ‘A’ encounter.
Up front Mike Sherry packs down between the recently capped Dave Kilcoyne and Michael Bent. Lewis Stevenson will pack down alongside Devin Toner while Kevin McLaughlin and the uncapped Tommy O’Donnel complete the back row.
Earlier today, England Saxons named their team for the clash in Galway.
Leicester Tigers’ loose forward Jordan Crane will captain a team that contains Saracens flankers Will Fraser and George Kruis, a half-back pairing of Richard Wigglesworth and George Ford.
It also includes Paul Doran Jones, a player that has prospered up front against Ireland in recent years.
Ireland Wolfhounds: Robbie Henshaw; Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Dave McSharry, Luke Fitzgerald; Paddy Jackson, Paul Marshall; David Kilcoyne, Mike Sherry, Michael Bent; Lewis Stevenson, Devin Toner; Kevin McLaughlin, Tommy O’Donnell, James Coughlin (c).Replacements: Damien Varley, Tom Court, Declan Fitzpatrick, Iain Henderson, Rhys Ruddock, Isaac Boss, Ian Madigan, Ian Keatley.
The game kicks off at 7:35pm and is live on RTE.
TheScore.ie will also keep you up to date with all the action and post-match reactions.
