Irish skipper O'Mahony drops to bench for second SA Test

O'Mahony was named Irish captain following last year's World Cup

Number eight Caelan Doris will captain Ireland for Saturday's second Test against South Africa with usual skipper Peter O'Mahony only among the replacements.

Head coach Andy Farrell has moved Tadhg Beirne to O'Mahony's usual blind-side flanker role and brought James Ryan into the second row.

In all Farrell has made four changes to the side that lost the first Test 27-20 in Pretoria last weekend, their first reverse to the Springboks since 2016.

South African head coach Rassie Erasmus had already named an unchanged squad for this weekend's game in Durban.

Enforced changes elsewhere for tourists

Conor Murray, Ronan Kelleher and Garry Ringrose all start after being used off the bench last week

Farrell said Ryan's "impact off the bench" in last week's defeat had convinced him to start the Leinster lock.

"You could talk about Tadhg or Pete going to the bench but what people are failing to talk about is that James Ryan has been a starter for us for years and years and been a real leader in our side," said the Ireland coach.

"He’s not happy sitting on the bench neither and we've seen some real guts and fight and determination to want to get his starting place back."

The Ireland coach added that O'Mahony was "not happy obviously" about his demotion to the bench but said that the Munster veteran "does the right thing by the team and that's at the forefront of his mind constantly".

"That's proper leadership. He understands that we want to have a look in this direction to see how it goes.

"He’s the captain of this tour and I suppose it shows the mark of the man, how you lead after a little bit of disappointment."

Farrell defends Doris ref interactions

Farrell was always going to have to alter his team for what is the last game of a long season.

Scrum-half Craig Casey and hooker Dan Sheehan were both ruled out earlier this week with injuries sustained in the first Test while centre Bundee Aki misses out after picking up a shoulder injury in the second half last weekend which leads to Garry Ringrose's return with Robbie Henshaw switching to inside centre.

The vastly experienced Conor Murray will start at nine with Connacht's Caolin Blade among the replacements.

Ronan Kelleher is promoted into the starting side in place of Sheehan with Ulster's Rob Herring, a Cape Town native, coming onto the bench.

Resisting the temptation to go for the 6:2 bench split used during the Six Nations, centre Stuart McCloskey takes Ringrose's place among the replacements.

Doris' interactions with first-Test referee Luke Pearce in the closing stages of last weekend's game after O'Mahony's second-half departure has come in for some comment this week but Farrell strongly defended the Leinster back row's communication skills.

"His performance last week, never mind the leadership or the captaincy... he was outstanding.

"Also he’s a calming influence. He's bright. The questions that he's going to the referees with are the right ones. His manner is very good as well."

Ireland: Osborne; Nash, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe; Crowley, Murray; Porter, Kelleher, Furlong; McCarthy, Ryan; Beirne, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).

Replacements: Herring, Healy, Bealham, Baird, O'Mahony, Blade, Frawley, McCloskey.