O’Sullivan happy with preparations

EDDIE O’SULLIVAN is adamant that his players will not arrive “cold” for the World Cup, despite surviving on a diet distinctly lacking in high intensity rugby for the last five months.

Having been excused from the two-test tour to Argentina, most of Ireland’s first-choice players must go back to the last Six Nations game against Italy in mid-March for their last taste of international rugby.

With Leinster and Munster exiting the Heineken Cup just two weeks later, the lack of serious game time seems even more acute but the Irish coach seems unperturbed as he prepares another largely shadow selection for the trip to Edinburgh this weekend.