Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan has made two changes to his team for Saturday’s Lloyds TSB Six Nations clash against England in Twickenham. Malcolm O'Kelly, after proving his fitness in a club league game last Saturday, is back in the second row in place of Paul O'Connell who was concussed during the win over Wales. Eric Miller reclaims the Number 6 jersey in the back row after recovering from a stomach bug with Simon Easterby losing out.
O'Sullivan admitted the selection process was a tough one but that he was in no doubt he had made the right choice: “Both decisions were difficult to make. But we made them on the basis that both would have been the first choices before the Wales game. But both need big performances. Eric Miller was the form player going into the Wales game. He'd been in outstanding form throughout the season and he's fully fit again, although it was a very tight call. Malcolm O'Kelly is a middle-of-the-line jumper and we needed that extra option. He came back for St Mary's and came through that fine.”
Ireland: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Geordan Murphy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Kevin Maggs, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 David Humphreys, 9 Peter Stringer, 1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Frank Sheahan, 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey (Captain), 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Eric Miller, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley
Replacements: 16 Shane Byrne, 17 Paul Wallace, 18 Gary Longwell, 19 Simon Easterby, 20 Guy Easterby, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Rob Henderson.
The Irish A team to play England A at Northampton on Friday at 8pm was also announced.
Ireland A: 15 Paddy Wallace, 14 Gordon Darcy, 13 John Kelly, 12 Mike Mullins, 11 Tyrone Howe, 10 Paul Burke, 9 Neil Doak, 1 Reggie Corrigan (Captain), 2 Paul Shields, 3 Simon Best, 4 Leo Cullen, 5 Jeremy Davidson, 6 Alan Quinlan, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Victor Costello
Replacements: 16 Gavin Hickie, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Bob Casey, 19 Andy Ward, 20 Ben Willis, 21 Jason Holland, 22 Anthony Horgan.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane & Tom Grealis
