O'Sullivan happy to give form players chance

Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan believes blooding young provincial stars Tommy Bowe and Denis Leamy against the United States on Saturday will give them an ideal chance to find their feet at international level.

With regular left-wing Denis Hickie rested and Munster’s Anthony Horgan tweaking a hamstring in training yesterday, 20-year-old Ulster speedster Bowe deservedly gets a chance to impress against an American side boasting just six European-based professionals.

So too does talented flanker Leamy who, at just 22, has moulded himself into one of the form opensides in Europe. He has risen above the experienced David Wallace in the Munster reckoning and bagged three tries this season – including Munster’s second in their 15-9 Heineken Cup defeat of Harlequins – and secured a brace of man of the match awards.

Leamy will be joined by five Munster colleagues when Ireland pack down against the Eagles – for a third time in five years.

“Tommy and Denis deserve their shot, and it’s a good time for them to come in,” admitted O’Sullivan, who has made eight changes and two positional switches to the side which ended Ireland’s 39-year wait for a win against South Africa.

“Both have impressed me quite a lot this season. You can’t ignore form players in any sport – both of them have come through the ranks, most recently at under-21 level, and done the business for their respective provinces.

“The Heineken Cup is an excellent platform for them, but it’s still not the same as an international.”

Bowe, who marked the first of his 12 Ulster appearances with a try last April, can count on experienced provincial colleagues David Humphreys and Kevin Maggs in a reshuffled backline.

Humphreys, 33, currently 11th on the all-time world points-scorer list with 491, will have an ideal opportunity to break through the 500 mark in his first start ahead of fly-half rival Ronan O’Gara in 13 months.

O’Sullivan is in no doubt that Monaghan-born Bowe, who has also notched two tries in eight Celtic League run-outs this autumn, can have an impact.

“Tommy is athletic and strong at 6ft 3in – he’s a clever footballer and should develop into a quality player. It’s an ideal opportunity really – we don’t have the A internationals available to us any more so it’s as good a time as any to blood new players.

“In saying that, even if we are expected to beat the Americans, you have to be careful how you introduce new players to Test rugby. I didn’t want to make too many changes. We have to respect the US – they are a hard-working team - they troubled France in the summer (losing 39-31). And although short on match practice, they will present us with a stiff enough challenge.”

O’Sullivan, the USA’s technical director during the 1999 World Cup, has rested Wasps flanker Jonny O’Connor following his game-leading 10 tackles against the Springboks, and reverted Leicester’s Geordan Murphy to his sometime full-back role.

The 26-year-old Murphy will notch up a half-century of international appearances on Saturday, and an 11th international start in the number 15 shirt.

“Playing the US will always mean a lot to me as I scored twice against them on my debut in 2000,” said Murphy, who has bagged six of his 11 Ireland tries from full-back.

“They would be regarded as weaker opposition but it’s still up to us to concentrate on our own game and maintain the standards we set last weekend.”

Murphy is one of four Ireland players – including recalled scrum-half Guy Easterby – who broke their international ducks in Ireland’s record 83-3 success against the Eagles four years ago.

US coach Tom Billups, a hooker when both sides first met in Dublin 10 years ago, finalises his squad on Thursday.