Donnacha Ryan and Keith Earls back in Ireland team for Wales game

Donnacha Ryan and Keith Earls will end 29 months without Test rugby when they start Ireland's World Cup warm-up clash against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

The luckless Munster duo's catalogue of injuries kept them out of Test action in the Joe Schmidt era, but now both men can state their case for World Cup selection to the head coach at the Millennium Stadium.

Lock Ryan and centre Earls will make their first Test appearances since the 22-15 defeat in Italy in March 2013, as Schmidt hands fringe players the chance to impress.

Jamie Heaslip will captain Ireland, the Leinster No 8 and tighthead prop Mike Ross being the only front-line stars named on Thursday to start against Warren Gatland's Wales.

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Ireland take on Scotland a week later at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, also the venue for the return clash against Wales on August 29 with a trip to Twickenham to face England on September 5 their final World Cup warm-up fixture.

Schmidt must submit his final 31-man World Cup squad on August 31, leaving three matches for players to force their way into the reckoning. They open their Pool D campaign against Canada in Cardiff on September 19.

Ulster centre Darren Cave has a real chance to impress at 12 in his first appearance since the November walkover against Georgia but veteran centre Gordon D'Arcy is not involved at all despite being fit for action..

Schmidt has given Ulster's Paddy Jackson the nod at fly-half over Leinster's Ian Madigan, with the two facing a potential shoot-out over the last World Cup play-making berth.

Powerful lock Ryan missed the bulk of last season with a toe injury that was branded "weird" by Munster boss Anthony Foley.

Now the 31-year-old is fully fit, and despite his lengthy Test absence still has a realistic chance of forcing his way into Ireland's final World Cup ranks.

Earls has battled a string of knee and groin problems since his last Ireland foray and his versatility could work in his favour, given the compact nature of World Cup squads.

Heaslip will be joined in the back row by Tommy O'Donnell and Jordi Murphy, while Ryan will be partnered in the second row by Iain Henderson. 

Prop Mike Ross will win his 50th cap alongside hooker Richardt Strauss and Jack McGrath in the front row.

Eoin Reddan and Paddy Jackson make up the half-back pairing, with the back three consisting of Fergus McFadden, Andrew Trimble and Felix Jones.

The bench includes Rory Best, David Kilcoyne, Michael Bent, Dan Tuohy, Chris Henry, Kieran Marmion, Ian Madigan and Simon Zebo.

Ireland: Felix Jones; Andrew Trimble, Keith Earls, Darren Cave, Fergus McFadden; Paddy Jackson, Eoin Reddan; Jamie Heaslip (capt), Tommy O'Donnell, Jordi Murphy; Iain Henderson, Donnacha Ryan; Mike Ross, Richardt Strauss, Jack McGrath.

Replacements: Rory Best, David Kilcoyne, Michael Bent, Dan Tuohy, Chris Henry, Kieran Marmion, Ian Madigan, Simon Zebo.