Kiwis to unleash Lomu on Ireland

New Zealand are going to unleash Jonah Lomu on Ireland - but only from the bench.

The giant Wellington Hurricanes winger was yesterday named as substitute after Doug Howlett and Caleb Ralph retained their positions on the wing for Saturday’s first Test against the Irish in Dunedin.

Lomu came on for the final quarter against Italy last weekend, scoring his 35th Test try, but played down the right wing rather than his customary left.

And there is also a growing belief that Lomu might be best employed as an impact player from the bench.

However, All Blacks backline coach Robbie Deans insisted he and head coach John Mitchell had not settled on one game plan for the 27-year-old.

‘‘We are getting through a lot of work with Jonah, and I’m sure he will get some game time. What he does with that game time will determine what happens from there,’’ said Deans.

‘‘We don’t have any preconceived ideas about how or when we introduce these guys. We’ll just respond to what we see.’’

Deans, who is the coach of Super 12 champions Canterbury Crusaders, could be forgiven for thinking he is back with his club given that 13 Crusaders have been named in the starting XV - only Auckland Blues’ Howlett and Hurricanes centre Tana Umaga are from elsewhere.

Ireland have made five changes to the team which defeated the New Zealand Divisional XV 56-3 last weekend.

Munster half-backs Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara come in for Guy Easterby and David Humphreys, while John Kelly, Geordan Murphy and Simon Easterby also get the nod ahead of Mel Deane, Tyrone Howe and Alan Quinlan respectively.