Johnny Sexton will captain the side and is partnered by Jamison Gibson-Park at half-back, but Ireland will be without British & Irish Lions tight head prop Tadhg Furlong who has been ruled out with injury.
Furlong, widely regarded as one of the best props in the world, has been ruled out with a calf injury and is replaced by Connacht prop, Finlay Bealham, who makes his first Six Nations start.
The Irish travel to Cardiff having lost their last four Six Nations games at the Principality Stadium but are seen by many as one of the favourites for this season’s Six Nations title as the top ranked team in the world.
“Tadhg is not quite ready,” said Farrell of Furlong. “In fact, he’s progressing pretty well but he’s not quite there yet. He could possibly be there in the next few days or week or whatever, but we just think that Finlay deserves it as well.
“He’s playing some outstanding rugby at this moment in time. The last game he played, he scored a hat-trick, he’s scrummaging very well, so he deserves a start. Tadhg will keep working away to hopefully be fit for the French game.
“Coming back from the autumn, or any camp he’s been in with us, Bealham has had that trust. He’s a massive personality within our squad, he’s very popular, but coming out of the autumn and how that translates, going back to Connacht and his performances since then has been top-drawer.”
Farrell revealed he has asked for the stadium roof to be closed so his Ireland side can experience the loudest atmosphere possible away from home this weekend.
“It’s great,” said Farrell. “It’s a fantastic stadium. We’ve been there before when it’s closed and there’s no atmosphere like it. It’s fantastic. It can only be good for us.
“We have to agree with the roof being closed. We wanted it closed as well to sample the atmosphere and keep progressing on our journey.”
The rest of the Ireland side has a familiar look to it with Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey joining Garry Ringrose in the midfield, Hugo Keenan playing at fullback and Mack Hansen and James Lowe on the wings.
In the front row Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan are joined by Bealham, making a first Championship start, with ex-Scarlets lock Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan named in the second row.
World Rugby Player of the Year 2022, Josh van der Flier, is named at openside, Peter O’Mahony, set to win his 90th cap, is on the blindside flank and Caelan Doris is at No 8.
The replacements include Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Ross Byrne and Bundee Aki.
