No lucky for injured Irish pair

Oct 2, 2015 - 12:56 PM Rob Kearney and Jared Payne have both lost their fitness battles for Ireland's crucial Rugby World Cup clash with Italy on Sunday (Monday AEDT).

Head coach Joe Schmidt has slotted Simon Zebo in at fullback and Keith Earls into the outside centre for the Pool D clash at London's Olympic Stadium.

Kearney suffered a mild gluteal strain on scoring Ireland's fifth try in the 44-10 victory over Romania at Wembley last weekend, and simply ran out of time to prove his fitness to face the Azzurri.

Payne bruised his foot against the Romanians, and did not train on Wednesday - the pivotal day's work in regard to selection to face Italy.

Centre Robbie Henshaw will make his World Cup debut after missing the first two matches of the tournament with hamstring trouble.

A win will secure Ireland's place in the quarter-finals and as a result Schmidt has named his strongest possible starting side.

Ireland team: Simon Zebo; Tommy Bowe, Keith Earls, Robbie Henshaw, Dave Kearney; Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray; Jamie Heaslip, Sean O'Brien, Peter O'Mahony; Paul O'Connell (capt), Iain Henderson; Mike Ross, Rory Best, Jack McGrath.

Replacements: Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Nathan White, Devin Toner, Chris Henry, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Luke Fitzgerald

Source: AAP