Crown heroes miss tour

TWO of Ireland’s senior Triple Crown heroes — Malcolm O’Kelly and Simon Easterby — have been ruled out of Ireland’s summer tour to New Zealand and Australia.

They are joined on the list of non-travellers by Johnny O’Connor and Eoin Reddan, all forced out through injury.

O’Kelly (replaced by Leo Cullen) could face surgery for a groin strain, while Easterby and O’Connor have not played since sustaining injuries as they went head to head for Llanelli and Wasps respectively in the Powergen Cup final last month. Wasps scrum half Reddan is also suffering from a groin strain.

There is plenty of experience in a squad led by Brian O’Driscoll but coach Eddie O’Sullivan, who was an assistant coach on last summer’s Lions tour to New Zealand, knows it will be a gruelling trip.

“Any tour to the southern hemisphere is tough and with two Tests in New Zealand and one in Australia, this will be no exception,” he said.

“As proved by the Lions tour last year, the intensity of the game in the southern hemisphere is incredibly high and something we will have to prepare ourselves for.”

One beneficiary from the injury list is Munster captain Anthony Foley, who was excluded from O’Sullivan’s plans in the Six Nations, and another possible returnee is Alan Quinlan. A vacancy has been left amongst the 16-strong forward unit, but O’Sullivan has earmarked Quinlan to fill the spot.

Quinlan recently made an earlier than expected return from injury and has now got some game time for both Munster and Shannon. His form is enough to suggest that he will travel with the party, but a decision has been left open until after next weekend, when Munster play Cardiff in the Celtic League.

In the backs, the new additions to the squad include the uncapped Ulster scrum half Isaac Boss. Boss has been in good form for the Celtic League table toppers and was selected for the Ireland A side to play England but had to pull out due to injury.

Gavin Duffy also returns to the senior squad for the first time since winning his last cap against Japan in June last year, where he played at outside centre in both tests in Osaka and Tokyo. Duffy is joined by Wasps out half Jeremy Staunton, who also won his last cap on that same tour.

Leinster winger Denis Hickie, who was part of the Six Nations squad after returning from serious injury, claims a place in the tour party as reward for his good form in the Heineken Cup and Celtic League, and John Kelly from Munster is also rewarded for his provincial performances with a place in the squad.

The forwards also see the inclusion of an uncapped Ulster player in the shape of prop Bryan Young, who is promoted from the Ireland A side. Ulster and Munster make up the entire front row selections for the tour, with Young the only uncapped member.

Foley is joined amongst the back row forwards by Keith Gleeson, who won his last cap against Italy in 2004. Since his return from injury in the autumn, Gleeson has been outstanding for Leinster.

The Ireland A squad to participate in the Churchill Cup in the USA and Canada includes just four full international players with a total of eight caps between them.

Roger Wilson, Matt McCullough, Kieran Lewis and David Quinlan are named in a squad that will be captained by Shane Jennings and coached by Michael Bradley.

Squad for New Zealand and Australia:

Backs: I Boss (Ulster), T Bowe (Ulster), G D’Arcy (Leinster), G Dempsey (Leinster), G Duffy (Harlequins), D Hickie (Leinster), S Horgan (Leinster), J Kelly (Munster), G Murphy (Leicester), B O’Driscoll (Leinster, captain), R O’Gara (Munster), J Staunton (Wasps), P Stringer (Munster), A Trimble (Ulster).

Forwards: N Best (Ulster), R Best (Ulster), S Best (Ulster), L Cullen (Leicester), J Flannery (Munster), A Foley (Munster), K Gleeson (Leinster), J Hayes (Munster), M Horan (Munster), D Leamy (Munster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), P O’Connell (Munster), M O’Driscoll (Munster), D Wallace (Munster), B Young (Ulster).

*One forward still to be added to squad.

Churchill Cup squad:

Backs: B Cunningham (Ulster), I Dowling (Munster), J Hearty (Connacht), E Hickey (Leinster), C Keane (Connacht), R Kearney (Leinster), S Keogh (Harlequins), M Lawlor (Munster), K Lewis (Leinster), A Maxwell (Ulster), T O’Leary (Munster), D Quinlan (Northampton), P Wallace (Ulster).

Forwards: B Blaney (Leinster), D Browne (Northampton), T Court (Ulster), D Fitzpatrick (Ulster), J Fogarty (Connacht), D Gannon (Connacht), J Heaslip (Leinster), R Hogan (Connacht), T Hogan (Munster), S Jennings (Leicester, capt), J Muldoon (Connacht), R McCormack (Leinster), M McCullough (Ulster), N McMillan (Ulster), R Wilson (Ulster).