Eddie hands veteran O’Kelly chance to rekindle Cup hopes

IRELAND’S most capped player must produce the goods on Saturday to keep alive his chances of making the 30-man squad for September’s World Cup in France.

Malcolm O’Kelly will win a record 84th cap in the Estadio Brigadier Estanislao Lopez del Barrio Centenario stadium, Santa Fe (kick-off 8.10pm Irish time) but with serious competition in the second row, the Leinster lock is in danger of missing out in September’s showpiece.

A heart–to-heart with Eddie O’Sullivan has made O’Kelly determined to regain his form on this tour and cement his name for inclusion for RWC 2007.

The Ireland head coach said O’Kelly is building his form gradually having missed out on the entire Six Nations due to injury but is “not back to where he wants to be”.

“I’ve spoken to Malcolm and had a good discussion. He needs to get back to form to put him back into the Irish team. And unfortunately for him he had a pretty frustrating spring. He struggled with his knee injury, and then missed the entire Six Nations. He has only got back into the Leinster team in recent times and has been building form gradually.

“There is a lot of competition in the second row. We have four locks out here and they’ll all get to play. Malcolm isn’t taking anything for granted.

“I know his goal is the Rugby World Cup. He has had a tough year and he needs to get back to his form. This tour is very important to Malcolm and he knows that.”

Meanwhile it’s all change from the last Ireland team that played Italy in the Six Nations in Rome, but apart from the “Untouchables” (the XV that dismantled England in February) there is only one new cap on the starting XV that faces the Pumas.

It comes as no great surprise that the O’Sullivan has picked former Great Britain and Wigan rugby league star Brian Carney, the Cork man wearing a green jersey just over two months after joining Munster.

His eye-catching Magners League performances sees Carney take up a similar position for Ireland in a relatively-inexperienced back line.

The obvious Ulster and Leinster combinations weren’t pre-planned, according to O’Sullivan, but it can only help a new-look Ireland side to have an Ulster half-back combination of Isaac Boss and Paddy Wallace, Leinster second-row duo O’Kelly and Trevor Hogan and two thirds of Michael Cheika’s back row comprising Keith Gleeson and Jamie Heaslip. Add in Ulster’s Simon Best and Bryn Young, and, at least, if there isn’t team stability and continuity, then familiar combinations can only be a comfort to the Irish management.

“In some ways any of those combinations were more fortunate rather than planned, to be fair,” added O’Sullivan. “It’s a side that never played together before. What I’m trying to do is give them a basic template to play next week so they can all fit into some sort of a game-plan.

“Having said that, when you leave out you’re starting 15 at home, it’s always a challenge but that’s the challenge in picking this team.”

Gavin Duffy returns from the international wilderness to win only his fifth Ireland senior cap. O’Sullivan, a known admirer of the versatile three quarter, had no qualms in restoring Duffy to the test arena.

“Gavin would be the example of a guy who really wasn’t making things happening for himself at Harlequins and the opportunity arose to get him back to Connacht. By taking that opportunity he put himself in the shop window and, I think in fairness to him, his case arises out of that, as you can say of Brian Carney.”

O’Sullivan also stressed that any prevailing hangovers from the provinces’ limp end-of-season finishes haven’t seeped into a camp he describes as enthusiastic and where “fellows have been pretty fired up”. He added: “I don’t see any evidence of fatigue either.”

O’Sullivan’s counterpart, Marcelo Loffreda, who must plan for this two test series without his French-based players shares a similar mindset to O’Sullivan. Loffreda, who will coach Leicester Tigers next season, picks his team tomorrow. Many Irish players admitted at their hotel on Calle Pellegrinni in central Buenos Aires that video analysis of Saturday’s opponents is an impossibility, but the aggression of the Pumas will be evident in Santa Fe. Many are based in Argentina, playing amateur rugby and will want to put themselves in the shop window for travelling French club scouts.

“I’m sure there are players playing next weekend for Argentina that have the World Cup in mind also. I think from that perspective it’s quite similar for both teams,” said O’Sullivan.

“This tour doesn’t have a huge bearing on Rugby World Cup other than in terms of selection. I don’t think it’s going to colour either teams’ thinking on how we play in the World Cup,” added O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan says there will be hard calls to make when he sits down to pick the 30 players for Rugby World Cup. There is serious competition for places, particularly amongst the back five. On this tour alone there are four locks, and six back-row forwards. He also said he was impressed by the level of performances of the locks with Ireland A last weekend.

“To be fair to the guys at home they did make their case in the Six Nations — a problem for all these guys they didn’t get hat opportunity. I’m trying to give them that opportunity now.”