Earls gets nod to replace BOD in Ireland midfield

KEITH EARLS has been given the nod to step into the Ireland midfield in place of injured skipper and talisman Brian O’Driscoll for Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Wales.

Coach Declan Kidney has made only three changes, one positional, to the side defeated 22-10 by Wales in last year’s World Cup quarter-final.

Jonny Sexton starts at fly-half with Ronan O’Gara on the bench while Munster’s Conor Murray, a surprise call-up to the World Cup side, continues at scrum-half.

Ireland are four-point favourites for the Aviva Stadium showdown – they have won five of the last six clashes with Wales in Dublin but have lost the last two meetings, in the World Cup and at the Millennium Stadium last spring.

Wales name theirteam on Friday for Sunday’s clash. Coach Warren Gatland was already waiting for injury updates on key players Rhys Priestland, Dan Lydiate and Jamie Roberts, and hooker Matthew Rees joined them on the sidelines after suffering a calf strainin training on Wednesday.

Italy have made seven changes to the team that lost their final World Cup match to Ireland as they prepare to face France on Saturday.

Kris Burton lines up at fly-half while another Aussie-born player Luke McLean starts on the wing.

The Azzurri pulled off a sensational win over France in last year’s tournament but are 20-point underdogs in Paris. Les Bleus are 7-4 tournament favourites – Paddy Power are offering
8-15 the field against the French.

England coach Stuart Lancaster is due to name his team on Thursday lunchtime to face Scotland in Edinburgh.

New Red Rose captain Chris Robshaw is 9-1 with Blue Square to score a try at Murrayfield on.

The Harlequins flanker will be playing only his second international and he is 2-1 with Ladbrokes to skipper England in all five of their Six Nations clashes and 4-1 with the same firmto captain the Red Rose in every match they play this year.

Ireland team v Wales: R Kearney; T Bowe, K Earls, G D’Arcy, A Trimble; J Sexton, C Murray; C Healy, R Best, M Ross, D O’Callaghan,  P O’Connell, S Ferris, S O’Brien, J Heaslip;
replacements: S Cronin, T Court, D Ryan, P O’Mahony, E Reddan, R O’Gara, F McFadden.

Italy team v France: A Masi; G Venditti, T Benvenuti, A Sgarbi, L Mclean; K Burton, E Gori; A Lo Cicero, L Ghiraldini, M Castrogiovanni, C van Zyl, Q Geldenhuys, A Zanni, R Barbieri,  S Parisse; replacements: T D’Apice, L Cittadini, M Bortolami, S Favaro, F Semenzato, T Botes, G Canale.

Read Friday's Racing Post for our fabulous Six Nations betting preview, prices and stats package - including whatthe oddsmakers' think feature

In this week's Racing & Football Outlook Paul Charlton looks forward to the return of the Europa League - last season we 'hit the bar' withEuropa League finalists Braga, tipped at 100-1.

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