“Sore neck” leaves Wood a half-chance

THERE were plenty who believed making a weekend round trip to eastern Siberia was a pain in the neck, but Ireland skipper Keith Wood took the sentiment literally.

An Irish win in their World Cup qualifier with Russia was the reward for enduring a marathon jaunt last weekend. The price, however, the absence of the captain due to a neck problem picked up en route from Krasnoyarsk.

With victory almost certainly assured in the second and final World Cup qualifier against Georgia at Lansdowne Road on Saturday, Wood’s absence would not be catastrophic. Rare, though, would be the coach who would not gladly include the talismanic hooker if fully fit and at his disposal.

Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan is optimistic, however, and included Wood in his starting line-up to face the Georgians. With Wood in the side, the team is unchanged from Saturday’s laboured 38-3 victory over the Russians and of the skipper, O’Sullivan said: “We’ll play it by ear. It’s not something we anticipated. We didn’t realise it was a problem, just a little bit of soreness, but is has manifested itself into something more serious.

“The news is positive, though, and to be fair to Keith and to the team, we’ll give him every chance to get fit. It’s the smart thing to do and we’ll keep our options open,” he said.

Wood added: “It’s unimaginatively called a sore neck. I’m hoping it will settle down in the next day or two.

“It is very stiff at times; it was fine going out there, but then a little bit sore. Then I got slung into the ground during the match on Saturday, and again, after the match, it was fine. But then, after sitting down on a plane for seven time zones, it was just very stiff on Sunday night.

“As a front-row, you’re often sore, especially at the start of the season. You’re going to have a huge stiffness of the muscles and bangs, from scrummaging especially, and it takes a little while to get used to. But this is different.”

Asked as to his chances of playing on Saturday, Wood replied: “As a Welsh player once said, ‘My chances are 60-50’. But, no, 50-50 would be about right.”

If he doesn’t make it, Leinster hooker Shane Byrne will join the front row from the replacements bench as he did when deputising for Wood in the friendly against Romania at Thomond Park, Limerick, earlier this month.

The only other injury issue is a knee problem of fly-half Ronan O’Gara’s that caused him to sit out training at Greystones yesterday. It is not serious enough to consider the Munster man a doubt for the weekend, however.

Whatever happens to O’Gara, the appearance of fellow fly-half David Humphreys, most likely from the

replacements’ bench, will see the Dungannon man emulate fellow Ulsterman Jack Kyle by equalling his record of 46 caps as Ireland’s most capped-out half.

Ireland team to play Georgia, Lansdowne Road, Saturday, 3pm: G. Dempsey (Terenure College), J. Kelly (Cork Constitution), B. O’Driscoll (Blackrock College), K. Maggs (Bath), D. Hickie (St Mary’s College), R. O’Gara (Cork Constitution), P. Stringer (Shannon); R. Corrigan (Greystones), K. Wood (Harlequins) captain, J. Hayes (Shannon), G. Longwell (Ballymena), M. O’Kelly (St Mary’s College), S. Easterby (Llanelli), K. Gleeson (St Mary’s College), A. Foley (Shannon).

Replacements: S. Byrne (Blackrock), P. Wallace (Blackrock), L. Cullen (Blackrock), A. Quinlan (Shannon), G. Easterby (Llanelli), D. Humphreys (Dungannon), R. Henderson (Young Munster).