Eddie ponders the options
The pressure is on for Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan ahead of the announcement today of his team to tackle France at the Stade de France on Saturday. And that's not all. Word is awaited on whether Brian O'Driscoll will take his place at second centre and there may be no firm news on that for another day or two.
If O'Driscoll's hamstring injury fails to respond sufficiently to intensive treatment, then O'Sullivan is likely to go outside his 22 with Munster's Mike Mullins and Rob Henderson the main contenders. But he could also choose D'Arcy as a straight replacement for the captain.
It is a rarity to have so many imponderables hanging over the composition of the Irish XV. The situation has come about largely by the side's poor performance against France in the World Cup quarter-final - and the indifferent form of so many members of that team in the ensuing months.
However, whereas Clive Woodward has shown a ruthless side in dealing with some of his World Cup winners, O'Sullivan has largely given a vote of confidence to those who failed him Down Under.
On the day that the Irish coach claimed "we have moved on from the World Cup and have picked the squad on form shown in the European Cup", he included Victor Costello, Keith Gleeson, Girvan Dempsey and Guy Easterby in his 22.
Over the weekend, Woodward narrowed his panel to 28 and it didn't contain the name of Neil Back, one of the most influential open-side wing -forwards in the World Cup. Others to get the bullet were Kyran Bracken and Martin Corry. Woodward insisted: "I am looking at current form and will continue to throughout the Six Nations and beyond."
To be fair, England have a much larger selection base than Ireland and invariably have greater options.
Eddie O'Sullivan is hamstrung by the absence through injury of Geordan Murphy, Denis Hickie, Alan Quinlan, Eric Miller, Marcus Horan and quite possibly O'Driscoll. However, if he were to operate strictly on the form shown in a series of competitive Heineken Cup matches, then O'Sullivan had a host of back-row forwards to consider ahead of Costello and Gleeson. Ulster's Roger Wilson has had a series of magnificent matches at number eight for his province, as has open-side flanker Neil Best.
David Wallace has bounced back to near his best with Munster while Johnny O'Connor is all the rage in England after a series of outstanding performances for Wasps. Wilson, initially, Best and O'Connor never even got the call for the squad of 34. None made the final cut.
Whereas Costello, especially, and Gleeson have looked jaded and out of sorts since the World Cup, those spared the extreme pressures of the weeks Down Under have come on in leaps and bounds.
Eddie O'Sullivan has many major decisions to face up to before naming his side for Paris. On the day in
Melbourne he declared that "Anthony Foley is one of the most intelligent back-row forwards in the game", the coach dropped the Shannon man for the World Cup quarter-final clash with Australia. Victor Costello got the nod instead. If one is to accept the current form yardstick at face value, it is a certainty that situation will be reversed today with Foley also assuming the captaincy should O'Driscoll be ruled out.
Employing the same rationale, Malcolm O'Kelly has to be under pressure from Donnacha O'Callaghan as Paul O'Connell's second-row partner. Recent injury shouldn't militate against Frankie Sheahan taking over at hooker. He was superb for Munster in both games against Gloucester, and is the natural successor to Keith Wood, while Reggie
Corrigan is safe at loose head now that Marcus Horan is out because of his ongoing back problems.
One cannot but sympathise with the coach as he ponders how best to cope with Geordan Murphy's absence at full-back and Girvan Dempsey's palpable lack of form.
Gordon D'Arcy is the white haired boy in some circles. He has played well for Leinster, Dempsey has been going through a terrible time so D'Arcy must be the man at number 15. As for the out-half berth, it's a toss up once again between two men in form.
Ronan O'Gara was superb for Munster against Bourgoin, David Humphreys has been excellent for Ulster. In this case, O'Sullivan is operating from a position of strength.
The cynics believe that those overlooked for Paris will be the lucky ones. They maintain another Les Bleus hiding is on the cards which in turn would make for a clear-out along the lines of after the 50-18 thrashing by England at Twickenham in 2000.
That's a scenario O'Sullivan won't want to contemplate and that means fielding a side on Saturday that at least puts in a creditable performance. He'll have his critics no matter what he does.
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