O'Sullivan stands by his men

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has stuck to his guns and by the players who performed so poorly in the World Cup ahead of Saturday's Six Nations opener against Italy in Croke Park.  Given the matchday 22 named last week there are few surprises in the selection by a coach who has been unwavering loyal to the usual suspects during his tenure.

It means, despite the form of Leinster hooker Bernard Jackman, that Ulster captain Rory Best will start in the frontrow, having played just an hour of competitive rugby since being sidelined with an ankle injury in December.

Many will feel Jackman is unlucky to miss out, particularly with Jerry Flannery unavailable through suspension, but with O'Sullivan again reverting to the largely tried and tested in his squad, the Leinster man was always likely to start among the replacements.

The trend continues in the backrow with the coach affording another opportunity to the trio of blindside flanker Simon Easterby, openside David Wallace and Denis Leamy, with the form number eight, Jamie Heaslip of Leinster, left cooling his heels on the sidelines.

Malcolm O'Kelly is preferred to Mick O'Driscoll in the secondrow. The veteran will partner Munster's Donncha O'Callaghan in the absence of injured vice-captain Paul O'Connell.

O'Kelly has more recently been used off the bench as an impact sub and given O'Driscoll's familiarity with O'Callaghan, the decision may surprise some. The Leinster lock, however, is ready to make his 92nd appearance for his country and brings experience and a steady hand to the lineout.

Behind the scrum, Eoin Reddan continues at srumhalf instead of Peter Stringer - who he replaced after two games in the World Cup - while Geordan Murphy and Andrew Trimble are handed the wing berths vacated by the retired Denis Hickie and the recuperating Shane Horgan.

Leinster's Rob Kearney offers cover for the back three from the bench.

Speaking at this afternoon's team announcement, O'Sullivan said: "There were a couple of difficult calls to make. The front row was hard because Rory has played very well since recovering from injury, but Jackman pushed him close.

"We looked at Jamie Heaslip because of his form but on balance we decided to leave the backrow as it is. Scrumhalf was a tight call as well. It could have gone either way between Reddan and Stringer.

"Reddan is a slightly different player and edges it on the type of game we're playing, but I wouldn't say Peter brings less to the field."

The form of his central pairing is a concern to O'Sullivan but he is convinced that in captain Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy he has two of the best around and has called on both Leinster players to step up to mark in this tournament.

"Both will admit they haven't been firing on all cylinders," he said. "Sometimes one has played better than the other, occasionally one has played well and sometimes neither of them have played well.

"When you consider the options, there aren't too many centres around outside of these two boys and we're fortunate to have them.

"They're world-class players and when they're on form they're right up there. But the challenge for them now is to quickly find their form for the Six Nations," added the coach.

O'Sullivan was keen to stress today that he and the squad were keen to put the World Cup performance behind them but will not be able to fully do that until the Saturday.

"We've talked a lot about the World Cup and now it's time to get back on the horse," he said. "The difference between this year and last year is that at the moment the World Cup is sitting on our shoulders.

"But we must draw a line in the sand. We can't change what happened but what we can do is attack the Six Nations and do as well as we can.

"The team want to get back to where they were last autumn and we can't do that until the Six Nations starts on Saturday."

Ireland: G Dempsey (Leinster); A Trimble (Ulster), O'Driscoll (Leinster, captain), G D'Arcy (Leinster), G Murphy (Leicester); R O'Gara (Munster), E Reddan (Wasps); M Horan (Munster), R Best (Ulster), J Hayes (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), M O'Kelly (Leinster), S Easterby (Llanelli), D Wallace (Munster), D Leamy (Munster). Replacements: B Jackman (Leinster), T Buckley (Munster), M O'Driscoll (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster), P Stringer (Munster), P Wallace (Ulster), R Kearney (Leinster).