| Paul O'Connell will captain the side in the absence of the injured Brian O'Driscoll. The starting XV for the Rugby World Cup warm up game shows two changes- Andrew Trimble moves to the centre to replace the injured Brian O'Driscoll and Geordan Murphy comes into the team on the right wing.
Ulster players Stephen Ferris, Isaac Boss, Paddy Wallace and Simon Best may also feature in the game having been named as replacements.
Rory Best said this of his selection :
"It's good to be here (in Belfast). Normally I have to travel three hours to meet up with the squad so it was nice to only have to drive half an hour to go to the team meeting.
"It will be good to play at Ravenhill, I can't wait really. Ravenhill is very special to me and it will be great to get another run-out. I know the game is sold out and it is going to be a fantastic atmosphere with a full house behind us."
Eddie O'Sullivan spoke about the historic occasion of playing at Ravenhill:
"It will be a huge occasion, the tickets were sold out almost instantaneously, there were queues around the corner and even when extra tickets went on re-sale there was a huge scramble for them.
"There has been a huge interest with people at training every day. It has been a great atmosphere and the weather has been fantastic too. It's been great for the lads to get that kind of support before the game even kicks off.
"It's going to be a full house and I've been in Ravenhill many a Friday night for Heineken Cup games and when it starts cooking there it's great stuff. It's our final game before we head off to the World Cup, we want to create an atmosphere where we're playing good rugby and getting the crowd behind us.
"In the match last week against Bayonne we played two good quarters and lost our shape, on Friday I'm hoping we keep our shape for the whole game."Kick-off at Ravenhill is at 19:45
IRELAND v ITALY TEAM & REPLACEMENTS
15 - Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster)
14 - Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
13 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Denis Hickie (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
10 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
9 - Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
1 - Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
2 - Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
3 - John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (Captain)
6 - Simon Easterby (Llanelli)
7 - Neil Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
8 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Replacements:
16 - Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
17 - Simon Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
18 - Malcolm O'Kelly (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
19 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
20 - Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)
21 - Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
22 - Brian Carney (Clonakilty/Munster)
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