Ireland waiting on Longwell

RUGBY: Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has named 24 of the 25-man squad for next Saturday's Six Nations Championship match against Wales in the Millennium Stadium, leaving a vacancy that will be filled after the weekend's AIB All-Ireland League fare.

An Other refers to either Paul O'Connell or Donnacha O'Callaghan and represents an ultra-cautious approach to the injury conundrum that Gary Longwell presents. The Ballymena and Ulster second row retired just before the interval in Ireland's victory over France with a hamstring tweak.

Longwell was sent for a scan to check the extent of the damage and while it revealed no tear, he was unable to take any part in Ireland's two-day camp at Citywest this week. O'Sullivan did intimate that he didn't anticipate any problem with Longwell's hamstring but added the rider that "there's no point in getting caught out."

The track record in the Ireland squad for those expected to recover isn't exactly inspiring so Longwell will be asked to prove his fitness when the squad train on Monday, 24 hours before the team to play Wales is announced.

O'Connell and O'Callaghan will come under the scrutiny of the Irish management, a handy assignment for the latter as they are playing just a couple of miles apart in their respective matches in Cork. O'Connell, largely out of commission since breaking a thumb in Munster's Celtic League semi-final victory over Ulster at Thomond Park, will line out for Young Munster in their Division Two game against Dolphin at Musgrave Park.

O'Callaghan will be in action for Cork Constitution in their Division One match when hosting Carlow at Temple Hill.

Shane Horgan's unavailability through injury means a recall for London Irish wing Justin Bishop, returning for his first competitive game in the English Premiership clash with Harlequins tomorrow following several weeks on the sidelines. That game will be shown live on television.

Bishop played in Ireland's Test matches at the end of last year against Fiji and Argentina, replacing the injured Denis Hickie.

Girvan Dempsey's fate is still not clear. On medical advice he has enjoyed complete rest this week to try to overcome a niggling groin problem. He is another for whom Monday will be a testing day, though his late withdrawal from the Italian and French games has come at the end of a week's training, when the damage seems to flare up.

The national team management have given carte blanche to those on the replacements bench for the French match as well as O'Connell, Rob Henderson and St Mary's College and Leinster prop Emmet Byrne, to play for their clubs today. Byrne's rehabilitation is not alone good news for the national side, providing extra depth, but also Leinster whose front row problems may now ease a little.

For the first time in many years there will be no A team game as Wales no longer play at shadow international level.