O'Sullivan defers difficult decisions

Faced with some of the most difficult - if welcome - selectorial posers he's possibly ever encountered in his time as Irish coach, Eddie O'Sullivan has deferred them until next Wednesday by naming a provisional squad of 25 for the Six Nations opener away to Italy.

With Keith Gleeson virtually the only front-line player deemed hors de combat, O'Sullivan has named six backrowers and an additional back-line player in the squad which will convene on Sunday night in readiness for a campaign of almost dizzying promise.

Never before has O'Sullivan been able to name all his gamebreaking, match-winning backs in one squad, and while that will exercise the management's mind and add an edge to training on Monday and Tuesday, the traditional backrow conundrum has, if anything, become even more complex by the emergence of Denis Leamy and Johnny O'Connor.

For starters, O'Sullivan will have to omit two of the six named yesterday, Simon Easterby, Anthony Foley, Alan Quinlan, Eric Miller and the aforementioned young opensides, not to mention choose his starting back row and replacement.

Despite the temptation to wrap them in cotton wool until they get to Rome, his players do need match practice and the majority of the squad have also to negotiate weekend Celtic League matches.

"I've picked 14 forwards and 11 backs, and the reason for that is they're playing this weekend in the Celtic League. Simon Easterby has a bit of a hamstring problem and I want to see how he comes through, Foley had a bit of a rib injury in Twickenham and he hadn't trained last week, so there's no point in picking a back row at the moment."

The competition in the backrow and the options available to him also compelled O'Sullivan to delay his decision out of fairness to all those in the mix. "It's a very hard combination to make out. I've already left out some very good players," O'Sullivan pointed out, in reference to the likes of Victor Costello, Shane Jennings, David Wallace and Roger Wilson. "We've been down this road many times, certainly backrow has been our most competitive area by a mile and it's getting more competitive when you see Leamy and O'Connor now. We talked about this being a very competitive area in the World Cup, and if Neil McMillan hadn't been injured he'd have been in the mix as well."

Presuming the incumbent Foley and Easterby are fit, on the face of it O'Sullivan would seem to have a straight choice between the young tearaways for the number seven jersey, with Leamy perhaps edging ahead of O'Connor on the strength of his muscular, effective performances for Munster, and an equally tortuous choice between Quinlan and Miller for the bench. But there is also a growing feeling O'Sullivan might again opt for Quinlan as openside.

"It's an exciting headache to have, yeah," admitted O'Sullivan, who nonetheless was reluctant to tempt fate. "But let's see the weekend out because all the Leinster and Munster guys run out. I'd be very happy if I got that 25 in camp and I want that headache on Tuesday night."

In which case, Kevin Maggs may miss out on the 22 altogether, with O'Sullivan tempted, albeit with reservations, to finally field all his sharpest attacking weapons together, namely Geordan Murphy (at full back), Gordon D'Arcy and O'Driscoll in midfield, and Shane Horgan and Denis Hickie on the wings, and thereby sacrifice the all-round security of Girvan Dempsey, Mr Dependable, by naming him on the bench.

The clean bill of health must be in part down to the 10-week pre-season.

"It had a big part in it. Everyone is fitter and stronger, and we've picked their games well for them. We haven't compromised them.

"I know there was a bit of hassle at the start of the season but if you think about it the two teams (Munster and Leinster) were hit the biggest by it are now in the top three of the Celtic League."

Prior to the team announcement next Wednesday, there'll also be valid discussions about loosehead and hooker, where Marcus Horan and Frankie Sheahan are putting more pressure on Reggie Corrigan and Shane Byrne, but partly on the strength of the autumn, the old warhorses should hold on. An additional five players will supplement the squad to a more workable base of 30, namely Simon Best, Leo Cullen, Gavin Duffy, Anthony Horgan and Tommy Bowe.

FORWARDS

Shane Byrne (Leinster)

Reggie Corrigan (Leinster)

Simon Easterby (Llanelli)

Anthony Foley (Munster)

John Hayes (Munster)

Marcus Horan (Munster)

Denis Leamy (Munster)

Eric Miller (Leinster)

Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster)

Paul O'Connell (Munster)

Johnny O'Connor (Wasps)

Malcolm O'Kelly (Leinster)

Frankie Sheahan (Munster)

Alan Quinlan (Munster)

BACKS

Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster)

Girvan Dempsey (Leinster)

Guy Easterby (Leinster)

Denis Hickie (Leinster)

Shane Horgan (Leinster)

David Humphreys (Ulster)

Kevin Maggs (Ulster)

Geordan Murphy (Leicester)

Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster)

Ronan O'Gara (Munster)

Peter Stringer (Munster)