Eoin Reddan will start at scrum half partnering Jonathan Sexton, while Rob Kearney makes his first start of the tournament coming into the team at fullback.
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Australia, 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Eden Park, Saturday, September 17, kick-off 8:30pm local time/9:30am Irish time):
15 – Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)*
14 – Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 – Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 – Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10 – Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
9 – Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
1 – Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)*
2 – Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 – Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 – Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 – Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 – Sean O’Brien (Clontarf / Leinster)*
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 – Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
17 – Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 – Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
19 – Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 – Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
21 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
*Denotes RWC Debut