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Ireland’s two injury concerns, Jared Payne and Rob Kearney, have both been left out of the matchday squad for this weekend’s game against Italy.

Ireland know that their meetings with Italy and France should decide Pool D, with a potential quarter-final against Argentina in the offing.

There is another provincial axis in midfield with Ulster’s Darren Cave and Payne filling the centre berths, while Earls is joined in the back-three by Simon Zebo and Tommy Bowe, the only survivor from Ireland’s 43-12 victory over Romania back in November 2005.

Keith Earls tied Ireland’s World Cup try-scoring record with a brace in 44-10 victory over Romania to take Joe Schmidt’s men top of Pool D, before suffering a concussion scare.

Surprised to learn Ireland had set a new record for the World Cup’s oldest starting XV, Schmidt joked that 34-year-old scrum-half Eoin Reddan may have skewed the stats.