Many Irish rugby fans, and especially those who watched Ulster regularly, had been wondering when we would finally get a chance to see the highly impressive Stuart McCloskey in the Ireland shirt, and the predicted lineup for Ireland's visit to Twickenham on Saturday suggests that the time is upon us.
With Jared Payne a major injury doubt, McCloskey is set to start at 12 with Robbie Henshaw moving to 13 in an extremely exciting centre pairing. Henshaw would run riot running off the big McCloskey, who draws in defenders and can offload to Henshaw. The thought has us salivating.
There is also set to be a test debut for Josh Van Der Flier after the young flanker has impressed greatly in his rookie season for Leinster.
Here is the predicted lineup with the changes according to The Irish Times in mind:
15. Rob Kearney
14. Andrew Trimble
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Keith Earls
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Conor Murray
1. Jack McGrath
2. Rory Best (c)
3. Mike Ross
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Devin Toner
6. CJ Stander
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Jamie Heaslip
An exciting team, hopefully now we see some exciting rugby.
