Kidney opts to mix and match

IRELAND coach Declan Kidney last night made nine changes to the team which started the famous World Cup victory against Australia for this Sunday’s Pool C clash with minnows Russia.

Leo Cullen will make his World Cup debut as captain of a team that brings Ronan O’Gara in at out-half and also shows one positional change for a game against a side yet to produce a victory on their tournament debut.

“There were a few fellas who weren’t in the mix for it because of bangs and knocks but there was still a necessity to freshen it up,” Kidney said. “It was a big Test match last Saturday, so bringing a few extra bodies into it from the American game into the Australian game brought an injection of freshness and enthusiasm into it and we managed to do that again on Tuesday and Wednesday with the lads who haven’t had a run yet bringing freshness and enthusiasm to it.