'I can't wait to remind Tommy Bowe about how old he is' - Chris Henry

Australia boast two natural number sevens, David Pocock and Michael Hooper working in devastating tandem so far, while England captain Chris Robshaw has long been lambasted as lacking a scavenger's instinct.

Ulster's breakdown specialist Henry will make his first World Cup start against Romania at Wembley on Sunday, desperate to state his case for further inclusion in Ireland's Pool D campaign.

Henry is keen to challenge the established back-row unit of Peter O'Mahony, Jamie Heaslip and O'Brien in Joe Schmidt's side- but also threw his weight behind Leinster wrecking ball O'Brien when it comes to openside play.

"People say Sean O'Brien isn't a natural openside but Seany can play everywhere," said Henry.

"I've seen Seany, in that Scotland game in the Six Nations, absolutely bully the breakdown, he made four turnovers in that game.

"So when people say he's not a natural seven I think it's just because he's capable of doing everything.

"I don't know what the answer is in terms of opensides, but I think every team is going to be different.

"Obviously it works very well for Australia, but for me all I can do is hopefully make sure Joe sees what I can bring.

"The back-row in Ireland is ridiculously competitive, with Tommy O'Donnell and Rhys Ruddock being out injured, and you still have Jordi Murphy and everyone else.

"It's fierce.

"I just hope that every time I take the field I can add something and that Joe's happy with me.

"That's all I can do and any time I get a green shirt I love it.

"It would be great to put in a big performance and take it from there."

Ireland have made 12 changes from the side that thumped Canada 50-7 to open the World Cup for their second clash with Romania.

Tommy Bowe slots back in on the wing - in the process becoming the only survivor from the last Ireland side to face Romania, in a 43-12 victory in Dublin back in November 2005.

Ulster team-mate Henry admitted he would give 31-year-old Bowe some light-hearted ribbing for unwittingly ending up the old man of Ireland's piece.

"I didn't know that about Tommy and it's great, it just shows how old he is," joked Henry.

"And we can give him plenty of stick for that.

"Tommy's the kind of person who gets really excited to start.

"It was disappointing for him to miss out against Canada last week of course, and this is now a great chance for him.

"I don't know if Tommy will remember that game from 10 years ago, but I'll make sure that I give him a bit of craic down on the bus and remind him of how old he actually is."