Bolton and Kendellen to debut against Portugal as Crowley starts at 10
Connacht's Hugh Gavin is the third uncapped player in the matchday 23, with the Connacht centre in line to debut off the bench.
Bolton starts on the left wing with Tommy O'Brien continuing on the right wing and Jimmy O'Brien retained at fullback.
Jamie Osborne and Stuart McCloskey continue their centre partnership from last weekend's win in Georgia.
Craig Casey also gets the nod again, captaining the side at scrum-half, but Jack Crowley comes in at out-half as Sam Prendergast is left out of the 23.
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The all-Leinster front row of Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy and Thomas Clarkson is unchanged, and in the second row, Munster's Tom Ahern makes his first start having debuted as a replacement in Tbilisi. Ahern is joined by Connacht's Darragh Murray, who starts for the second week running.
Kendellen comes into the back row alongside Ryan Baird and Cian Prendergast, who had been due to feature against Georgia only to drop out through illness.
On the Ireland bench, Tom O'Toole, Tom Stewart and Michael Milne cover the front row, with Cormac Izuchukwu and Max Deegan the other replacement forwards.
Connacht's Ben Murphy and Leinster's Ciarán Frawley join Gavin as the three backline replacements.
'I have been really pleased with the attitude of the players over the last number of weeks,' O'Connell said.
'The dedication and diligence of the squad in testing conditions over in Tbilisi demonstrated the players' willingness to embrace challenges and hopefully that bodes well again this weekend.
'This Saturday presents another opportunity to go out and try to play our game. Portugal are another impressive emerging side who look to play an exciting brand of rugby and we know that we're in for another battle hopefully in front of another big crowd of travelling supporters.
'To our three new debutants – Shayne, Alex and Hugh – congratulations on their selection. The team will try to deliver a positive performance for them and their families.'
IRELAND:
15: Jimmy O'Brien (9 caps)
14: Tommy O'Brien (1)
13: Jamie Osborne (8)
12: Stuart McCloskey (20)
11: Shayne Bolton*
10: Jack Crowley (25)
9: Craig Casey (19) – capt
1: Jack Boyle (3)
2: Gus McCarthy (5)
3: Thomas Clarkson (7)
4: Tom Ahern (1)
5: Darragh Murray (1)
6: Ryan Baird (28)
7: Alex Kendellen*
8: Cian Prendergast (4)
Replacements:
16: Tom Stewart (3)
17: Michael Milne (1)
18: Tom O'Toole (16)
19: Cormac Izuchukwu (2)
20: Max Deegan (3)
21: Ben Murphy (1)
22: Ciaran Frawley (8)
23: Hugh Gavin*
*denotes uncapped
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The Journal
28 minutes ago
- The Journal
Katie Taylor defeats Amanda Serrano for third time and ends their rivalry in New York
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The Irish Sun
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- The Irish Sun
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The 42
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A tale of two warriors: The devotion of Mattie Donnelly and Peter Harte
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Even bike and things like that, which keeps me sane in terms of getting a sweat up. We have a gym at the homeplace and a gym at the pitch. So between the two is where we spend most of our time.' ***** 'He's incredibly driven,' says Mark Bradley now of his Red Hands team mate. 'The whole chat at the time was that Mattie might not play again. But the character he is, he is so detailed and you would not have doubted them. 'I don't think any of those men have anything to prove. They have done it for years and continue to do so.' 17 years ago, Bradley was in Hill 16 for the All-Ireland final. Tyrone and Mayo played out a draw in the minor, before Tyrone seniors won their decider against Kerry. A week later, Tyrone became the first Ulster county to nail a senior-minor double in the same year, on a scoreline of 1-20 to 1-15. Kyle Coney was the undoubted star of that game with 0-5. 15,056 were packed into Pearse Park in Longford for the replay, among them was Bradley again. At centre-back was Peter Harte. Lining out in the half-forward line, Mattie Donnelly. Donnelly competing against Paul Galvin in his debut season, 2012. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO 'Mattie' and 'Petey' are still trucking, still doing whatever it takes. In the All-Ireland quarter-final win over Dublin, Harte gave all he could and more before being withdrawn for his brother-in-law, Ruairí Canavan. In the final plays, Donnelly was still going hard. He won a break from a kickout to set up Eoin McElholm for a point and later provided an assist for Ben McDonnell to punch over. 'They were the ones you looked up to, and you still do,' says Bradley. 'You look at the big moments, they continue to step up and lead from the front.' Later this year within three weeks of each other, both will celebrate their 35th birthdays. While the Footballer of the Year last year was won by a 35-year-old Paul Conroy, it takes an insane drive to still play intercounty at this age. It requires total buy-in from everyone around their wider circle. Both come from a heritage that never compromises on that. Donnelly's father Liam had a career of playing for Tyrone before later managing the county to underage success. His mother Clare is the secretary of their club, Trillick. Harte's name explains everything. That, and being married to Aine Canavan, daughter of Peter, explains a lot. The numbers, according to former Tyrone PRO Eunan Lindsay, are staggering. Donnelly has played 189 games for Tyrone; 77 in the league. 77 games in championship and 37 times in the Dr McKenna Cup. He will overtake Conor Gormley this Saturday in overall championship appearances and move to fourth in league and championship. He has scored 5-183 in total, with 1-92 in championship. Donnelly and Harte hunt down Eoghan Ban Gallagher of Donegal. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Donnelly only arrived in 2012, after turning down Mickey Harte's request to join a year before in order to prepare his body better. Harte made his debut in 2010 and immediately took on a leadership role. He has been the freetaker and he has played a great deal of his football in the half-back line. There are few more creative than him in the game. He has played a mind-boggling 222 times for Tyrone; 84 championship, 93 league, and 45 times he hauled himself out to play in the muck and gutters of the Dr McKenna Cup. Only Sean Cavanagh has played more for Tyrone, but Harte has scored 36-285 altogether with 14-119 in championship, making him the record goal scorer for Tyrone. Of those goals, there are some, as they might say in Tyrone, absolute clinkers. Related Reads Tyrone take major step, dominant Donegal, Monaghan's second-half struggles Dessie Farrell steps down as manager of Dublin footballers 'What a goal. That is one of the great goals we've seen in Croke Park. Magic, magic Mulligan!' Both players have proved themselves in many facets of the game. There are few that can match Donnelly's power or Harte's inventiveness though. For present selector, Colm McCullagh, he sees similarities with the two veterans and a fellow selector in Chris Lawn, and the example that everyone in Tyrone reaches for when the quality of leadership is mentioned; Brian Dooher. 'You'd have to give those boys serious credit for how they look after themselves in the off seasons – if they get any off seasons. Because those boys are involved in clubs that are going to the later ends of championships and winning championships,' he says. The key to it all though, is that they love football in a way that most mortals could not comprehend. Bradley recalls a Saturday night when Tyrone played Galway a few years back. It wasn't until well past midnight when the bus rolled back into the county. While everyone else was talking about a lazy Sunday ahead, perhaps a round of golf and a dip in the pool, Peter Harte had other plans. He was out first thing in the morning to coach the Errigal Ciarán U8 girls team. ***** Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
