Ireland coach, Declan Kidney, was obviously impressed with what he saw when Ross came off the bench against Canada on Saturday, when he made his senior debut.

The inclusion of Ross means that Tony Buckley moves from the right side of the scrum to loosehead prop.

The front row reshuffle sees Ulster's Tom Court move to the replacements' bench to replace the promoted Ross.

The rest of the pack remains unchanged with Mick O'Driscoll named in the side despite picking up a slight wrist sprain during the Canadian game last weekend. Leinster second row Devin Toner has been called into the squad as a precaution. Alan Gaffney, who was involved with Leinster's Heineken Cup win, joins the squad to work in his capacity as backs coach for the remainder of the tour and the Churchill Cup.

"We felt after last week's game against Canada that the players who started deserved another chance to improve on that performance," said Irish coach Declan Kidney.

"We thought long and hard about making changes to the side, but with only two full training sessions under their belts before the Canada game, we thought it better to give the same players an opportunity to find their feet.

"The majority of those who will not start on Sunday or are not in the matchday 22 will all have further opportunities in the Churchill Cup."

IRELAND TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v USA, Setanta Challenge Cup, Sunday, May 31, Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara, kick-off 1pm local time/9pm Irish time (live Setanta Sports Ireland)):

15 - Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
14 - Barry Murphy (UL Bohemians/Munster)
13 - Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
12 - Ian Whitten (Ballymena/Ulster)
11 - Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster)
10 - Ian Keatley (Galwegians/Connacht)
9 - Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
1 - Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt)
3 - Mike Ross (Harlequins)
4 - Bob Casey (London Irish)
5 - Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
6 - John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
7 - Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster)
8 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Replacements:

16 - Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)*
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster)
19 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
20 - Eoin Reddan (London Wasps)
21 - Niall O'Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)*
22 - Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)*