Chance to shine for fringe players

Rugby: Declan Kidney has opted for four debutants in his side to face the Barbarians at Thomond Park on Friday night, with locks…

Rugby:Declan Kidney has opted for four debutants in his side to face the Barbarians at Thomond Park on Friday night, with locks Ed O'Donoghue and Dan Tuohy set to join number eight Chris Henry in the pack, while Fergus McFadden will line out at inside centre.

There is also a return to the starting XV for Peter Stringer, who renews his long-standing partnership with Munster team-mate Ronan O’Gara after some time playing second fiddle to Tomás O’Leary and Eoin Reddan.

The former will be among the replacements, as will Jonathan Sexton as back up for outhalf and captain O’Gara.

The back three are another experienced bunch in the shape of wingers Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble, and fullback Rob Kearney.

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The frontrow consists of Marcus Horan, Seán Cronin and Tony Buckley. All three will be glad of the chance to stake their claim for a starting role on the summer tour.

There is also a chance to impress for Niall Ronan and John Muldoon, who start in the backrow with Ulster’s Henry.

Kidney’s options on the bench consist of Jerry Flannery, Mick O’Driscoll, David Wallace, Paddy Wallace, Tom Court and the aforementioned half-back cover.

Barbarians coach Philippe Saint André yesterday made 11 changes to his side, calling on Ireland veterans Malcolm O’Kelly and Alan Quinlan to join Munster's Paul Warwick in the starting XV.

The team will be captained by Xavier Rush, while Pierre Mignoni, Brock James, Seru Rabeni and David Smith all come into the back division.

David Barnes, Schalk Brits, Census Johnston, Jerome Thion and George Smith all included in the pack but neither Florian Fritz nor Rodrigo Roncero were considered for selection due to international commitments.

IRELAND (v Barbarians):R Kearney (UCD/Leinster); S Horgan (Boyne/Leinster), G Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht), F McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)*, A Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster); R O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster) (capt), P Stringer (Shannon/Munster); M Horan (Shannon/Munster), S Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht), T Buckley (Shannon/Munster); E O'Donoghue (Ballynahinch/Ulster)*, DTuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)*; J Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht), N Ronan (Shannon/Munster), C Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)*

Replacements:J Flannery (Shannon/Munster), T Court (Malone/Ulster), M O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster), D Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), T O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster), J Sexton (St.Mary's College/Leinster), P Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)

BARBARIANS:P Warwick; D Smith, C Lualala, S Rabeni, C Heymans; B James, P Mignoni; D Barnes, S Brits; C Johnston, J Thion, M O'Kelly; A Quinlan, G Smith, X Rush. Replacements:B August, J White, R So'oialo, M Williams, B Kelleher, J-B Elissalde, F Estebanez or P Sackey.

*Denotes uncapped player