Few surprises thrown up as Eddie plays it safe

AT long last, and when you least expected it, the final Irish pre-match press conference of the Six Nations Championship season threw up a good story.

The elevation of Ronan O’Gara to the captaincy for the first time in his 82nd appearance wasn’t a major shock after how well he has performed the task throughout the Heineken Cup campaign with Munster. However Eddie O’Sullivan admitted he faced a tough task in deciding whether Paul O’Connell or O’Gara should lead the side out in place of the injured Brian O’Driscoll.

Explained O’Sullivan: “I weighed this up on the basis that Paul has been out for a long time and has only one game under his belt.