Rugby Schmidt set to give Byrne World Cup chance in Twickenham as big guns return to starting team

Ross Byrne could be handed a major opportunity to stake his World Cup claim by starting against England on Saturday.

The Leinster out-half is in line to wear the Ireland No 10 shirt for the first time at Twickenham as Joe Schmidt prepares to call on a host of his biggest names.

With Joey Carbery out injured, the coach has been forced to re-assess his selection strategy at out-half for the warm-ups. He now needs to give Byrne and Jack Carty as much experience as possible, while protecting his leading man Johnny Sexton.

Sexton sat out yesterday’s training session at the team’s warm-weather training base in Portugal after a heavy hit-out on Monday and is unlikel