Start Sean O’Brien on the bench, urge Leinster stars

Shane Byrne and Malcolm O’Kelly want the Tullow man kept in reserve against Italy.

While O’Kelly feels that O’Brien could make an impact from the start, both men seemed to favour the notion of starting him on the sidelines, with just O’Brien’s run-out for the Ireland Wolfhounds last Friday under his belt after injury.

“He [O’Brien] has been out for a good while. He's not going to let the side down. It's whether he has it left in the tank for 80 minutes. He's almost better coming from the bench,” O’Kelly commented, at the launch of the Annual Stuart Mangan Memorial Cup in Donnybrook today.