Front four return for Wales encounter
All four were ruled out of Ireland's summer tour to Australia, Tonga and Samoa but seem certain to be included in Eddie O'Sullivan's starting line-up against the Welsh after being included in a 22 man squad yesterday.
The team and replacements will be announced on Tuesday after a training session in Kildare but it is clear that coach O'Sullivan is hell bent on re-introducing these four stars at the earliest opportunity in advance of the World Cup in October.
He has, however, gone for a mix 'n' match situation in the second row and both Gary Longwell and Leo Cullen have been excluded from the equation. Malcolm O'Kelly is joined in that particular rank by Paul O'Connell and Donnacha O'Callaghan.
The squad selection also offers a timely opportunity for David Wallace to stake a claim for a place in the World Cup squad back row section, currently highly congested with eight very good players going for five or a maximum of six places.
Six players, John Hayes, Ronan O'Gara, Marcus Horan, Emmet Byrne, Neil Doak and James Topping, were not considered through injury so there will not really be any controversy about this particular selection.
In any event, O'Sullivan has admitted: "The next few weeks is our time to experiment and give everyone a chance to break into the World Cup squad."
He will be particularly happy with the progress of his front-line captain Wood and O'Driscoll, the man who replaced him last season.
"The great thing is that we have been able to train as a big unit of 40 players over the last week. Some players who lost out for this match will be given an opportunity before we make a final decision on our squad. We will have a good hard look at things over the next four or five weeks."
Meanwhile, Wales coach Steve Hansen has also told his players that World Cup places are up for grabs after selecting the side for the game.
Cardiff's Nicky Robinson and former Bristol Shoguns back-row forward Rhys Oakley, now with Gwent Dragons, will make their test debuts.
And there are four other uncapped players on the bench utility back Nathan Brew, scrum-half Andy Williams, hooker Huw Bennett and flanker Robin Sowden-Taylor.
In addition to Ireland, Wales face England at the Millennium Stadium on August 23, Romania at Wrexham four days later, and Scotland in Cardiff on August 30.
"The first thing we have to do before we can go to the World Cup is reduce our squad to 30 players," Hansen said.
"The August matches are ideal for us to look at every candidate and give them the chance to show us what they can do.
"We simply can't play our best side in four successive games in a two-week period, especially when our major focus is being at our peak at the World Cup and not in August for these friendly games.
"We have to balance our World Cup training needs with giving the players a chance to play in a competitive environment. We have a set of criteria for each of the four games, and we will select our sides accordingly."
For the Ireland game, Hansen has handed Llanelli wing Garan Evans his second cap five years after the first while the likes of Iestyn Harris, Ceri Sweeney, Dwayne Peel, Duncan Jones, Michael Owen and Richard Parks also gain chances to impress.
Wing Gareth Thomas will captain the side, with none of Hansen's current 'squad skippers' Martyn Williams, Stephen Jones, Robin McBryde or Colin Charvis selected.
Thomas will become the 119th Welsh captain when he leads the side at Lansdowne Road. Capped 66 times, the Celtic Warriors wing is only three tries short of Ieuan Evans' Welsh record of 33 in 72 Tests.
"Gareth has been one of our best and most consistent players and proved at Bridgend last season that he can command the respect of his team," Hansen said.
"He is well-liked and respected by all the players, and since his recall to the squad he has been a leader both on and off the field for us."
IRELAND (from): G. Dempsey (Leinster), G. Murphy (Leicester), B. O'Driscoll (Leinster), S. Horgan (Leinster), K. Maggs (Bath), A. Horgan (Munster), D. Humphreys (Dungannon), P. Burke (Harlequins), P. Stringer (Munster), G. Easterby (Rotherham).
S. Best (Ulster), S. Byrne (Leinster), R. Corrigan (Greystones), J. Fitzpatrick (Castres), K. Wood (unattached), P. O'Connell (Munster), D. O'Callaghan (Munster), M. O'Kelly (Leinster), V. Costello (Leinster), D. Wallace (Munster), A. Foley (Munster), K. Gleeson (Leinster),
WALES: N Robinson (Cardiff); G Evans (Llanelli), J Robinson (Cardiff), I Harris (Cardiff), G Thomas (Celtic Warriors, cpt); C Sweeney (Celtic Warriors), D Peel (Llanelli); D Jones (Neath-Swansea), M Davies (Celtic Warriors), B Evans (Cardiff), M Owen (Gwent), G Llewellyn (Neath-Swansea), R Oakley (Gwent), R Parks (Celtic Warriors), A Popham (Leeds).
Replacements: H Bennett (Neath-Swansea), G Jenkins (Celtic Warriors), V Cooper (Llanelli), R Sowden-Taylor (Cardiff), A Williams (Neath-Swansea), A Marinos (Gwent), N Brew (Gwent).
*Tickets for the match have already gone beyond the 15,000 sales mark and the IRFU are confident they will at least double that number.
The IRFU is offering two stand tickets for 40 and two terrace tickets for 20.
Tickets can be purchased online by logging onto www.irishrugby.ie
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