The Ulster player is preferred to his provincial colleague Tommy Bowe, while in the pack there are two changes from the side which lost to France.
Donnagha O’Callaghan will start in the second row in place of the injured Paul O’Connell, while John Hayes has recovered from the bug which kept him out of the Paris game
Ireland team to face Wales at Lansdowne Road on Sunday February 26:
G Murphy (Leicester); S Horgan (Leinster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, captain), G D'Arcy (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster); R O'Gara (Munster), P Stringer (Munster); M Horan (Munster), J Flannery (Munster), J Hayes (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), M O'Kelly (Leinster), S Easterby (Llanelli), D Wallace (Munster), D Leamy (Munster)
Replacements: R Best (Ulster), S Best (Ulster), M O'Driscoll (Munster), J O'Connor (Wasps), E Reddan (Wasps), D Humphreys (Ulster), G Dempsey (Leinster).
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