Wood says call on captain correct

KEITH WOOD was as surprised as anyone but still insists that Eddie O'Sullivan's decision to give Paul O'Connell the captaincy for Ireland's Six Nations clash in Paris on Saturday is a risk worth taking.

O'Connell's relative lack of experience made the announcement unexpected, but Wood feels the second row can bring his World Cup form to the Stade de France.

"I was surprised to be honest," Wood said yesterday as he and Welsh legend Ieuan Evans launched the Six Nations in the IFSC.

"It's a very interesting selection. He has the attributes for captaincy and I thought he might have been somewhere down the line, he wouldn't have a huge amount of experience.

"But you can't have any real qualms with it. Paul has got a passion for the game that is just fantastic and few can replicate. It is only a small risk, but it is a risk worth taking. We can't go over there and be shy about how we play. And by making Paul captain, maybe we are setting our stall out."

His partner at lock, Malcolm O' Kelly, applauded Paul O'Connell's appointment and revealed he first sensed his leadership qualities during the World Cup.

He said: "Paul very much deserves the position. He's held in very high regard by all the other players and has their total respect because of the way he plays the game.

"He's been given a great opportunity to lead the team and I will help him in every way I can as his second row partner.

"There was a feeling during the World Cup that he could go all the way and captain the side, and now he's done it."

O'Kelly has kept out Donncha O'Callaghan, in magnificent form for Munster, and O'Connell revealed that the Leinster veteran is still the bench mark for young Irish locks.

"At Munster I would be jumping at four, so a lot of the line-out work will be up to me. But playing at five with Ireland means a lot of that pressure is off me Mal is the main source of ball at the line-out," he said.

Reckoned ex-skipper Wood: "I think it is quite difficult for us. But I think the team that is picked is definitely good enough, but it will be tough. A lot will depend on this result. I will be looking at it saying it is a possibility, but by no means a certainty."

While some feel the tournament is just a run-up to the France-England Grand Slam decider in Paris, Evans isn't so sure. The Welsh legend can feel a shock or two in the air.

"There is a psychological burden to being world champions that England will need to bear. And they will have to do so without Martin Johnson and Johnny Wilkinson. Johnson is a massive blow. I am a big admirer, his belligerence, his bloody-mindedness, they blew so many grand slam attempts when he wasn't there. It wasn't by accident that happened. They are going to miss him. He was the man of the tournament in the World Cup, certainly man of the match in the final. He dragged England kicking and screaming through games."

As for Ireland? "The loss of Keith Wood is huge, as is the absence of Brian O'Driscoll. The difference between winning and losing at this level is tiny, O'Driscoll brings that added ingredient to win, Denis Hickie is also going to be missed. The back-line doesn't look as threatening as it has done without those two."

But Evans sees hope in the uncertain qualities of the French. "France also miss Galthie, he is the man that has made France tick for so long.

"And there are still question marks over Michalak at this level, we saw the way he crumbled a little bit during the World Cup."