Ireland will start Sunday's Rugby World Cup match against Romania with the oldest team in the history of the tournament. Joe Schmidt said he had no idea when making 12 changes from the side that beat Canada. He had handed his soon to be retired captain Paul O'Connell a place on the bench and included four World Cup debutants.

Things might have been different had Robbie Henshaw been fit. The decision not to risk the Connacht man's hamstring strain, brought Darren Cave into the centre. The Ulsterman is 6 years older.

At 31 Tommy Bowe is the only player survive from the last time Ireland played Romania a decade ago. Jamie Heaslip will captain the side in the absence of O'Connell. Jared Payne and Keith Earls are the only other players to retain their places.

Cian Healy will make only his second start of the year in the front row alongside Richardt Strauss and Nathan White.

Devin Toner is back in the second row alongside Donnacha Ryan. Chris Henry and Jordi Murphy are the flankers. Ian Madigan and Eoin Reddan are the scrum halves, with Simon Zebo at full back.

Overall the Ireland squad has an average of 28.2 years, hardly the highest in the tournament and the exact same as New Zealand. The England team of 2003 were know as Dad's Army. They are still the only Northern Hemisphere side to lift the William Webb Ellis Cup.