Keith Wood to lead Ireland to RWC 2003

Keith Wood will play in his third successive World Cup tournament when he leads Ireland to RWC 2003 in Australia.

The 30 – strong squad is made up of 17 forwards and 13 backs and contains one uncapped player in scrum half Neil Doak, of Ulster and Belfast Harlequins.

Ireland Coach Eddie O’Sullivan says: "In spite of some untimely injuries to Geordan Murphy and Rob Henderson, I am happy that we have a particularly strong squad with a good mix of experience and skill. This is borne out by the fact that difficult decisions had to be made in the selections of many positions.

"We have now taken the first formal step in the road to Rugby World Cup 2003 by naming the squad and we know we do so with the full support of the Irish public."

The Ireland Rugby World Cup 2003 squad is: -

Forwards (17)

Name Age Province / Club Caps Points

Simon Best 26 Ulster / Belfast Harlequins 3 -

Shane Byrne 32 Leinster / Blackrock College 22 5 (1T)

Reggie Corrigan 33 Leinster / Greystones 26 -

Victor Costello 33 Leinster / St. Mary’s College 32 15 (3T)

Simon Easterby 27 Llanelli 23 20 (4T)

Anthony Foley 30 Munster / Shannon 45 15 (3T)

Keith Gleeson 27 Leinster / St.Mary’s College 16 20 (4T)

John Hayes 30 Munster / Shannon 34 5 (1T)

Marcus Horan 26 Munster / Shannon 12 -

Gary Longwell 32 Ulster / Ballymena 25 5 (1T)

Eric Miller 28 Leinster / Terenure College 35 15 (3T)

Donnacha O’Callaghan 24 Munster / Cork Constitution 5 -

Paul O’Connell 23 Munster / Young Munster 10 15 (3T)

Malcolm O’Kelly 28 Leinster / St. Mary’s College 54 25 (5T)

Frank Sheahan 27 Munster / Cork Constitution 13 5 (1T)

Alan Quinlan 29 Munster / Shannon 16 5 (1T)

Keith Wood(Capt.) 31 Munster / Garryowen 53 70 (14T)

Backs (13)

Name Age Province / Club Caps Points

Jonathon Bell 29 Ulster / Dungannon 36 -

Girvan Dempsey 28 Leinster / Terenure College 38 50 (10T)

Neil Doak 31 Ulster / Belfast Harlequins - -

Guy Easterby 32 Rotherham 19 25 (5T)

Denis Hickie 27 Leinster / St. Mary’s College 40 100(20T)

Anthony Horgan 26 Munster / Cork Constitution 3 5 (1T)

Shane Horgan 25 Leinster / Lansdowne 19 40 (8T)

David Humphreys 32 Ulster / Dungannon 56 460(5T, 99PG, 8DG, 57 C)

John Kelly 28 Munster / Cork Constitution 13 35 (7T)

Kevin Maggs 28 Bath 53 65 (13T)

Brian O’Driscoll 24 Leinster / Blackrock College 41 99 (18T, 3DG)

Ronan O’Gara 26 Munster / Cork Constitution 33 332 (5T, 61PG, 2DG, 59 C)

Peter Stringer 26 Munster / Shannon 36 10 (2T)

Not considered because of injury: Geordan Murphy (Leicester), Rob Henderson (Munster – Garryowen).

Shadow Squad: Justin Bishop (London Irish), Paul Burke (Harlequins), Emmet Byrne (Leinster – St. Mary’s College), Leo Cullen (Leinster – Blackrock College), Gordon Darcy (Leinster – Lansdowne), Kieron Dawson (London Irish), Justin Fitzpatrick (Castres), Tyrone Howe (Ulster – Dungannon), Mike Mullins (Munster – Old Crescent), Brian O’Meara (Leinster – Cork Constitution), David Quinlan (Leinster – Blackrock College), Paul Shields (Ulster – Ballymena), David Wallace (Munster - Garryowen), Paddy Wallace (Ulster – Ballymena).