Wood back for World Cup qualifier

Keith Wood will return to captain the Ireland side for their World Cup qualifier against Russia in Krasnoyarsk on Saturday.

The Harlequins hooker was originally named in the side to face Romania earlier in the month but withdrew from the squad for the warm-up Test following the death of his brother Gordon.

However, Wood returned to action for Quins against Leeds at the weekend and has been included by O’Sullivan in an otherwise unchanged Ireland side.

The 39-8 victory over Romania at Thomond Park was convincing but the performance, particularly in the second half, was rusty as Ireland lost discipline at the breakdown and conceded needless penalties.

However, after a training session today, O’Sullivan announced the only other change to the squad was to be on the bench, where Alan Quinlan replaces the injured Eric Miller.

Ireland team to play Russia in World Cup qualifier on September 21 is: Dempsey (Leinster); Kelly (Munster), O’Driscoll (Leinster), Maggs (Bath), Hickie (Leinster); O’Gara (Munster), Stringer (Munster); Corrigan (Leinster), Wood (Harlequins, capt), Hayes (Munster); Longwell (Ulster), O’Kelly (Leinster); S Easterby (Llanelli), Gleeson (Leinster), Foley (Munster).

Replacements: Byrne (Leinster), Wallace (Leinster), Cullen (Leinster), Quinlan (Munster), Guy Easterby (Llanelli), Humphreys (Ulster), Henderson (Munster).