Rugby World Cup: No Sexton or Henderson for Ireland as O’Connell drops to the bench for Romania

JONATHAN Sexton and Iain Henderson will not be risked by Joe Schmidt against Romania, with Ireland’s team for Sunday's game having been announced on Friday afternoon.

Sexton picked up a knock on his knee in training during the week, while Henderson is yet to fully recover from a back injury, but there's a welcome full return for Cian Healy as just three men who started Ireland's 50-7 win over Canada keep their place in the XV.

Peter O'Mahony also misses out on the squad through injury, while Jamie Heaslip has been named captain as Paul O’Connell drops to the bench, with Schmidt naming an experimental team for the game at Wembley, London.

Ireland team to play Romania:

15. 15. Simon Zebo
16. 14. Tommy Bowe
17. 13. Jared Payne
18. 12. Darren Cave
19. 11. Keith Earls
20. 10. Ian Madigan
21. 9. Eoin Reddan
22. 8. Jamie Heaslip [Captain]
23. 7. Chris Henry
24. 6. Jordi Murphy
25. 5. Devin Toner
26. 4. Donnacha Ryan
27. 3. Nathan White
28. 2. Richardt Strauss
29. 1. Cian Healy

Replacements:

16. 16. Sean Cronin
17. 17. Jack McGrath
18. 18. Tadhg Furlong
19. 19. Paul O’Connell
20. 20. Sean O’Brien
21. 21. Conor Murray
22. 22. Paddy Jackson
23. 23. Rob Kearney

Here's the @irishrugby team v @RugbyRomania #ShoulderToShoulder #RWC2015 pic.twitter.com/scVAJWwo3s

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) September 25, 2015