NEWCASTLE, Australia (AP) — Ireland coach Andy Farrell has made nine changes to his starting side to face Japan in a Nations Championship match on Saturday, with Tadhg Beirne set to captain the side for the first time.

Only six players from the Irish team’s 33-31 victory over Australia in Sydney last week kept their place for the match at the neutral venue of Newcastle, about an hour’s drive north of Sydney.

They are backs Stuart McCloskey, Jamie Osborne and Jimmy O’Brien and forwards Tom O’Toole, James Ryan and Jack Conan.

Back-row forward Sean Jansen will start for the first time at No. 8, with provincial teammates Billy Bohan and Sam Illo also set for debuts off the bench. Flanker Bryn Ward was also included in the match-day squad for the first time.

“Really excited about this one for all sorts of reasons,” said Farrell. “Obviously, it’s always a special occasion when you give one person a debut, never mind four.”

For Japan, coach Eddie Jones, returning from a four-match suspension, has kept university student flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito in his starting lineup.

Ito made his international debut in Japan’s 27-10 win against Italy in Tokyo last week and the 21-year-old impressed Jones enough to keep his place alongside halfback partner Naoto Saito.

“He’s a young 10, he’s going to have his ups and downs but we’ve got a team that’s going to support him,” said Jones. “Those guys will help look after him and we just want him to be himself.”

Taira Main replaces Kippei Ishida on the left wing in Japan’s only change for Saturday’s match.

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Teams:

Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Jimmy O’Brien, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Ciarán Frawley, Craig Casey; Tom O’Toole, Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson, Tadhg Beirne (captain), James Ryan; Jack Conan, Nick Timoney, Sean Jansen; Reserves: Tom Stewart, Billy Bohan, Sam Illo, Cormac Izuchukwu, Bryn Ward, Nathan Doak, Harry Byrne, Bundee Aki.

Japan: Takuro Matsunaga; Kazuma Ueda, Dylan Riley, Yuya Hirose, Taira Main; Ryunosuke Ito, Naoto Saito; Takato Okabe, Mamoru Harada, Shuhei Takeuchi, Harry Hockings, Warner Dearns (captain), Ben Gunter, Kanji Shimokawa, Jack Cornelsen. Reserves: Hayate Era, Sojiro Otuska, Keijiro Tamefusa, Michael Stolberg, Michael Leitch, Tiennan Costley, Itsuki Kamimura, Sam Greene.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby