O'Gara to captain Ireland at Twickenham

Ronan O’Gara today commiserated with Paul O’Connell after edging his Munster colleague for the Ireland captaincy.

O’Gara will lead the Irish for the first time after coach Eddie O’Sullivan turned to his chief playmaker to fill the void created by Brian O’Driscoll’s hamstring tear.

In the past O’Connell has deputised for O’Driscoll but the Lions lock has been overlooked as Ireland seek a third successive victory at Twickenham.

“I have the utmost respect for Paulie. He’s a natural leader and a very close friend,” said O’Gara.

"He’s someone I admire and respect, someone I go to in the Munster team. Just because he’s not officially been named as captain, that won’t affect our relationship.

“I’ve huge trust in him and I think he has huge trust in me as well. I’m really looking forward to it.

“This was the ideal chance for me to get the nod because Brian is injured and Paulie is probably one or two games from being at the level he wants because of the back injury he’s had this season.

“I was told the news first thing this morning by Eddie. I was half hoping to be named captain but I didn’t expect to get it.

“I’m thrilled, delighted and very honoured. It’s a massive opportunity, a massive challenge.”

O’Gara has impressed as Munster skipper during O’Connell’s battle with a back injury that has heavily restricted his game time this season.

It will be the first time he has led Ireland and the Lions fly-half – who has been in majestic form during this Six Nations – insists he will thrive under the responsibility.

“The first time I was made captain was for Connacht under-12s. We won a European Cup in France under Fred Casey. Peter Stringer was on that team,” he said.

“Then at school I captained junior and senior cup teams under Declan Kidney. He was the senior cup coach.

“He’d grill you on your lunch break when you were junior cap, asking about, ’what would you do in this part of the pitch? What would you do here?’ They were the building blocks.

“When you’re a young fella you think that you’re a lot better than you actually are.

“It’s only when you grow into a team and become more experienced that you realise how much more you have to learn about being a captain.

“I suppose the big thing is that captaining Munster was new for me.

“I didn’t realise how much more there was to the role other than just playing. And it’s a role I really enjoy.

“It’s a challenging group but it’s a privilege to lead such an honest bunch of players.”

Geordan Murphy has been pencilled in at full-back against England after nearing rehabilitation from his Achilles problem.

Murphy missed out against Wales with the injury he sustained on club duty for Leicester and faces a fitness test later in the week to confirm his selection.

His return forces Rob Kearney, who deputised at Croke Park on Saturday, back onto the left wing with Tommy Bowe switching over to his preferred position on the right.

As expected Shane Horgan of Leinster has been shifted to inside centre in response to O’Driscoll’s hamstring problem while Ulster’s Andrew Trimble moves a place down the line.