Cian Healy is ready and raring to go for Sunday's huge clash with England but it looks like he might miss out on a much coveted starting spot. The prop acknowledges that it'll be tough for him to shift the incumbent in his loosehead role, Jack McGrath:
It's going to be tough to budge Jack, he's been in there for the slog of it and he's done a really good job.
Healy is two matches back from a terrible hamstring injury, after picking up another 40 minutes of gametime for Leinster in their win over Zebre last weekend. Healy has enjoyed a terrific history against English tighthead Dan Cole in the scrum, but Ireland's forward's coach Simon Easterby hinted that faith will be kept in McGrath.
Cian is getting back up to speed, he has probably recovered far quicker than anyone expected... He's desperate to get back in the starting line-up, but he's got a young player in Jack McGrath who has been playing particularly well also. It's great that we have that depth there at the moment, in that loosehead position. Whoever starts will give you a certain level and someone coming on won't drop that, so we're in a strong position.
Elsewhere, the general though is that Jordi Murphy will be the only change to the Irish starting XV. Murphy will replace the injured Jamie Heaslip, and appears to have beaten off competition from Tommy O'Donnell, Rhys Ruddock and Iain Henderson.
With Eoin Reddan returning from injury against Zebre last week, Schmidt is likely to install him on the bench replacing Isaac Boss, while it is still possible that Luke Fitzgerald might replace Felix Jones on the bench.
Predicted Ireland Team To Face England:
15. Rob Kearney
14. Tommy Bowe
13. Jared Payne
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. Simon Zebo
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Conor Murray
1. Jack McGrath
2. Rory Best
3. Mike Ross
4. Devin Toner
5. Paul O'Connell (c)
6. Peter O'Mahony
7. Sean O'Brien
8. Jordi Murphy
Replacements:
16. Sean Cronin
17. Cian Healy
18. Martin Moore
19. Iain Henderson
20. Tommy O'Donnell
21. Eoin Reddan
22. Ian Madigan
23. Felix Jones
