Robbie Henshaw will start at full-back for just the second time in a Test in Ireland’s Six Nations opener against England in Dublin.

Head coach Joe Schmidt has selected Henshaw ahead of two-time Grand Slam winner Rob Kearney in a bold call to kick-start his side’s title defence.

Henshaw made his name playing full-back at Connacht and won his first Ireland cap in the 15 shirt back in 2013, but has not featured there in his other 35 Tests.

The 25-year-old has flourished in the centres, but has still expressed his desire for a return to the back-field and must now cope with an expected aerial bombardment from England at the Aviva Stadium.

Schmidt revealed Henshaw has been training at full-back for some time behind the scenes in Ireland’s set-up.

“Robbie trained last week and a bit in November at full-back,” said Schmidt.

“He actually trained there a bit in Australia in the summer too. It’s been an option for us for quite some time.

“Rob (Kearney) ran out of time a little bit.

“And we like the flexibility of Jordan Larmour on the bench covering a number of positions. It’s one of those things that we’ve seen as an option for quite some time.

“So it’s probably not as much of a surprise to Robbie or the team as it is to other people.”