Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has made four changes to his pack to face Italy, bringing in a mix of youth and experience that includes handing No.8 Jack Conan a Six Nations debut.
The 25-year-old Conan, who has scored four tries in five Tests for his country so far, allows CJ Stander a break at the back of the scrum where he will be joined by Dan Leavy, who replaces his injured Leinster teammate Josh van der Flier.
Jack McGrath swaps places with Cian Healy at loosehead prop while Devin Toner will collect his 55th cap as he returns in place of James Ryan following the 21-year-old's own impressive championship debut in last weekend's last-gasp win in France.
Five-eighth Johnny Sexton, whose long-range drop goal secured a winning start in Paris, leads an unchanged back line that will likely feature the uncapped Jordan Larmour at some point after the 20-year-old Leinster flyer was named among the replacements.
"Some of it is mileage," Schmidt told a news conference. "CJ Stander I think had 42 cleanouts and 23 carries in Paris, which while not attritional for CJ - he's in great shape - it's really probably rewarding some performance from Jack Conan in recent times as well."
"It's also that opportunity to keep a freshness. These Six Nations games do become, if nothing else, mentally attritional. By the time we came back from Paris on Sunday evening, we had some fairly sore, tired bodies."
Italy coach Conor O'Shea admits he had to stop himself from picking Ian McKinley to face Ireland purely to create a "romantic story".
Dublin-born five-eighth McKinley was forced to retire in 2011 after being blinded in one eye, only to relaunch his career in Italy three years later thanks to the aid of specially-designed protective goggles.
The former Leinster playmaker's situation even led World Rugby to ratify the use of the goggles for Test rugby, with the 28-year-old since progressing to represent Italy by way of residency.
Former Ireland fullback O'Shea conceded he would have loved to throw in McKinley to face his Irish compatriots in Saturday's Six Nations clash in Dublin but felt compelled to keep faith with Tommaso Allan and Carlo Canna.
"He was disappointed because he wants to play, that's the bottom line," O'Shea said.
"I knew it would mean a lot to him, so I said as much.
"But Ian's a rugby player, he's not a romantic story. Ian wants to be picked because he is the No.1 rugby player and has the right to be in this team at the time, not because he's a story.
"Sport is full of romance but the hard-nosed side of it is that, at the moment, Tommy Allan had the jersey last weekend and was outstanding, and Carlo Canna is one of the top points-scorers in Pro14 rugby and an exciting talent who brings a different skill set.
"I'd love to have picked Ian, I wanted to pick him in so many ways but how could you say to the other players, 'you're not picked because I want to pick Ian on romance'. Ian is a rugby player and he's a bloody good rugby player."
Italy lost out 46-15 to England in Rome last weekend in their opening Six Nations clash.
Ireland hosts Italy at Aviva Stadium on Saturday February 10, kicking off at 2:15pm local, Sunday 3:15am AEDT.
TEAMS
Ireland to face Italy
1. Jack McGrath
2. Rory Best
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Iain Henderson
5. Devin Toner
6. Peter O’Mahony
7. Dan Leavy
8. Jack Conan
9. Conor Murray
10. Johnny Sexton
11. Jacob Stockdale
12. Bundee Aki
13. Robbie Henshaw
14. Keith Earls
15. Rob Kearney
Reserves
16. Sean Cronin
17. Cian Healy
18. Andrew Porter
19. Quinn Roux
20. CJ Stander
21. Kieran Marmion
22. Joey Carbery
23. Jordan Larmour
Italy to face Ireland
1. Sergio Parisse
2. Abrahan Steyn
3. 3. Sebastian Negri
4. Dean Budd
5. Alessandro Zanni
6. Simone Ferrari
7. Luca Bigi
8. Nicola Quaglio
9. Marcello Violi
10. Tommaso Allan
11. Mattia Bellini
12. Tommaso Castello
13. Tommaso Boni
14. Tommaso Benvenuti
15. Matteo Minozzi
Reserves
16. Leonardo Ghiraldini
17. Andrea Lovotti
18. Tiziano Pasquali
19. Federico Buzza
20. Maxime Mata Mbanda
21. Edoardo Gori
22. Carlo Canna
23. Jayden Hayward
