Rugby: Joey Carbery of Dargaville gets nod over incumbent Johnny Sexton for Ireland

Dargaville's Joey Carbery will start ahead of Johnny Sexton as Ireland take on Australia. Photo / Getty Images

In somewhat of a surprise selection, Dargaville's Joey Carbery will start at first five for Ireland in their opening test match against Australia.

The 22-year-old has been chosen ahead of incumbent Johnny Sexton, arguably one of the elite first fives in the world, as Ireland look for a rare series win on Australian soil.

New Zealand-born coach Joe Schmidt said the decision to bench Sexton was a matter of giving the young pivot an opportunity.

"It was similar to the decision-making in some of the other positions, like Tadhg Furlong.

"Some of those guys have had some reasonably tough weeks, it was an opportunity really.

"One of the things with Joey, we really wanted to get him out there at No 10 at some stage and we thought the best window was to give him the longest preparation window possible.

"It was trying to get a balance. "Within those three training [sessions], it gave Joey an opportunity to slot himself in there as it did for John Ryan and Rob Herring in a similar vein.

"It's probably a good opportunity for some of those people to put their hand up."

Carbery will be surrounded by an experienced backline which includes standout halfback Conor Murray, former Chiefs second five Bundee Aki, centre Robbie Henshaw and fullback Rob Kearney.

Outspoken Australian coach Michael Cheika said it was an interesting call to select Carbery and knows Sexton will be hurting.

"The other lad [Carbery] is a fine player ... he's got a real skill set and to be honest I don't think Johnny would be keen to give him a chance to play either," he said.

Part of the appeal of playing Carbery ahead of Sexton may hark back to Ireland's exit from the 2015 World Cup.

They lost the experienced quartet of Paul O'Connell, Sean O'Brien, Peter O'Mahony and Sexton at the business end of the tournament and their back-ups weren't quite up to the speed of a World Cup quarter-final.

The game kicks off tonightat 9.35pm (NZ time).

Australia: Israel Folau, Marika Koroibete, Samu Kerevi, Kurtley Beale, Dane Haylett-Perry, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Caleb Timu, Michael Hooper (c), David Pocock, Adam Coleman, Izack Rodda, Sekope Kepu, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Scott Sio.
Reserves: Tolu Latu, Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Rob Simmons, Lukhan Tui, Pete Samu, Nick Phipps, Reece Hodge.

Ireland: Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Joey Carbery, Conor Murray, CJ Stander, Jordi Murphy, Peter O'Mahoney (c), Iain Henderson, James Ryan, John Ryan, Rob Herring, Jack McGrath.
Reserves: Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Tadhg Furlong, Quinn Roux, Jack Conan, Kieran Marmion, Johnny Sexton, Jordan Larmour.