O’Sullivan shows no mercy dropping Horgan and O’Kelly

CHRISTMAS or not, Eddie O’Sullivan showed no mercy yesterday when he omitted Anthony Horgan and Malcolm O’Kelly from the Irish squad for a pre-Six Nations training session at City West on December 29 and 30.

In announcing a 32-man squad, O’Sullivan revealed that Horgan, the Munster wing, and O’Kelly, the Leinster second-row, were being left out “for disciplinary reasons having missed a training session during last week’s fitness camp in Lanzarote.”

Whether the players themselves will regard the coach’s decision as a particularly severe “punishment” is a matter for speculation and it is difficult to imagine any long term implications for their respective international careers.

O’Kelly and Horgan roomed together throughout the World Cup in Australia and are particularly good friends.

Indeed, the international session at the end of the month is set for a deal of controversy.

Although they haven’t said anything in public, the four provincial coaches are known to be disappointed that the two-day get together is taking place in the days leading up to the Celtic League matches between Ulster and Leinster and Connacht and Munster on January 2, and on the week immediately preceding crucial Heineken Cup and Parker Pen Shield matches.

The O’Kelly-Horgan development aside, there are a number of interesting aspects to the squad.

By and large, there is little change from the pre-World Cup thinking with no place among the three scrum-halves for Brian O’Meara, who has been starring for Leinster in the Heineken Cup and Celtic League.

Ironically, O’Kelly’s place among the second-rows has gone to Gary Longwell, who last week was dropped from the Ulster squad for the Celtic Cup decider.

Anthony Horgan and the injured Denis Hickie are replaced on the wing by Tyrone Howe and Gordon Darcy, with John Kelly nominated among the centres and Ulster’s Paddy Wallace one of three number tens along with Ronan O’Gara and David Humphreys.

Jeremy Staunton has been struggling to hold on to the full-back berth with Munster but he is included as back-up to Girvan Dempsey.

Connacht’s Bernard Jackman is added as a third hooker instead of the retired Keith Wood, although the battle for the number two shirt is likely to boil down to a straight battle between Frankie Sheahan and Shane Byrne.

Squad: Forwards (17): Hooker: Shane Byrne, Bernard Jackman, Frank Sheahan.

Props: Simon Best, Emmet Byrne, Reggie Corrigan, John Hayes, Marcus Horan, Emmet Byrne Lock: Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Gary Longwell Back Row: Victor Costello, Simon Easterby, Anthony Foley, Keith Gleeson, Eric Miller, David Wallace Backs (15): Scrum-Half: Neil Doak, Guy Easterby, Peter Stringer Out Half: Ronan O’Gara, David Humphreys, and Paddy Wallace Centre: John Kelly, Rob Henderson, Kevin Maggs, Brian O’Driscoll.

Wing: Gordon Darcy, Shane Horgan, Tyrone Howe.

Full Back: Girvan Dempsey, Jeremy Staunton.