Payne and Henshaw named in Ireland midfield for South Africa test

Jared Payne will partner Robbie Henshaw in Ireland‘s midfield in Saturday’s Test against South Africa in Dublin.
The Ulster Kiwi-born centre will wear the No.13 jersey left vacant by the retired Brian O’Driscoll while Connacht‘s Henshaw starts in the unfamiliar inside centre slot.
Leinster‘s Sean Cronin is selected at hooker after Rory Best pulled out with a calf injury on Wednesday.
Mike Ross, who has not played for Leinster for a month due to a groin injury, has recovered in time and starts at tighthead.
“We have very small windows of preparation for a very brief time,” said head coach Joe Schmidt.
“They [Payne and Henshaw] trained together last week and we’ve decided to keep a bit of continuity.
“Gordon D’Arcy was injured last week. He’s probably back to full fitness now but we weren’t absolutely sure of that at the beginning of this week.
“It was going to be a new centre pairing no matter what happened and we decided to go with what we’d had the most time to prepare with.”
Ireland: Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe, Jared Payne, Robbie Henshaw, Simon Zebo, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray, Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin, Mike Ross, Devin Toner, Paul O’Connell, Peter O’Mahoney, Chris Henry, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Richardt Strauss, Dave Kilcoyne, Rodney Ah You, Mike McCarthy, Rhys Ruddock, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Felix Jones.
South Africa: Willie le Roux; Cornal Hendricks, Jan Serfontein, Jean de Villiers (capt), Bryan Habana; Handre Pollard, Francois Hougaard; Tendai Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis; Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield; Marcell Coetzee, Teboho Mohoje, Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Coenie Oosthuizen, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Cobus Reinach, Pat Lambie, JP Pietersen.