Big names return for Ireland
O’Sullivan had hinted at mixing and matching for this game but after the inept and listless start to Ireland’s Cup countdown in Murrayfield last weekend, team morale is in need of a tonic and nothing other than a big win achieved in style will suffice. After all, aren’t the Irish being talked up as one of the World Cup favourites?
The untouchables take their pre-World Cup bow with O’Sullivan making 12 changes from the Scotland match with only captain Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and Neil Best being retained.
O’Sullivan’s show of strength could be viewed as a recognition that the perceived Ireland first XV are in need of valuable game time. Twelve of tonight’s team have not played in an international match of high intensity since their final Six Nations game against Italy in Rome on St Patrick’s Day.
While this is arguably O’Sullivan’s best team, excluding injuries to Shane Horgan and David Wallace of course, the arguments will swell surrounding the exclusion of Geordan Murphy for this tie. However, after an excellent season, Girvan Dempsey’s inclusion was expected. Murphy has recovered from a dead leg and is among the replacements.
The backline should provide plenty of punch in attack with O’Driscoll joined by Dempsey, Andrew Trimble, Gordon D’Arcy, Denis Hickie, Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer.
Stringer’s inclusion is a welcome return for the Munster man who hasn’t played a competitive match since Munster’s exit to Llanelli Scarlets in the Heineken Cup on March 30 though O’Sullivan says that the scrum half “doesn’t need a lot of match time before he’s firing on all cylinders”.
Trimble steps into a position usually occupied by the desperately unlucky Shane Horgan whose Grade Two NCL medial ligament tear is expected to keep the Leinster man sidelined for up to four weeks. There was no further news yesterday on Horgan’s progress from the team’s warm weather training camp in Capbreton in the south west of France, but his remarkable powers of recovery could see him back sooner than expected.
The pack contains all the familiar front liners. Stability arrives in the front row with Marcus Horan, Rory Best and John Hayes packing down in front of O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan, while Simon Easterby, Neil Best and Denis Leamy complete the forwards.
David Wallace’s continued absence from contact training because of a recurrent ankle injury is surely becoming a cause for concern though the Munster flanker and another injury victim, Simon Best (back spasm), took part in a rehab session yesterday.
In the absence of O’Sullivan’s only recognised number seven (Wallace), Neil Best — who’s ostensibly a number six — gets an opportunity to impress in the openside flanker’s position. His aggression at the collision stage of the breakdown and excellent scavenging and ball-carrying techniques shouldn’t see the Ulster man become a fish out of water in this area.
Among the replacements are Bryan Young, Malcolm O’Kelly, Alan Quinlan and Paddy Wallace, Isaac Boss and Murphy.
“The other players in the squad need game time and this match gives us that opportunity,” said O’Sullivan. “You cannot replicate the same levels of intensity and physicality in training as you can in a match, so Thursday night will be vital for their preparation. This will be a full-on match and will give the team the levels of contact we need.
“The new faces in the team have really been champing at the bit to get a game and it will be a step up for them as they come out of their pre-season, but it is something that they need.”
Bayonne, who finished eighth in last season’s French Championship and who will partake in the European Challenge Cup this season, will be dazzled by the prospect of going face to face with many of the biggest names of Irish rugby, even world rugby, in their back yard. Overawed they well might be and over-whelmed they could be.
* Ireland will play in blue jerseys tonight as this is not a full representative game.
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