Injuries force Gatland to make wholesale changes

Ireland will send out a much-changed team to face Samoa at Lansdowne Road on Sunday.

Ireland will send out a much-changed team to face Samoa at Lansdowne Road on Sunday.

Coach Warren Gatland has been forced to make eight changes to the side which beat England last month following a number of withdrawals because of injury from his 25-man squad.

Girvan Dempsey, Denis Hickie, David Humphreys, David Wallace and Malcolm O'Kelly are all ruled out - and the Irish management team are also mindful of not jeopardising the fitness of their walking wounded just six days before playing New Zealand in Dublin the following Saturday.

Captain Keith Wood will be among those warming the bench this Sunday, and his replacement to lead the team is Anthony Foley.

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There will also be an untried back-three unit with Munster's Jeremy Staunton at full-back and Leicester's Geordan Murphy and Leinster's Gordon D'Arcy on the wings.

Murphy was only called up this morning when original choice Shane Horgan broke down in training.

Backs coach Eddie O'Sullivan said: "It's not the perfect preparation for an international, and we've got a new back three.

"They are all talented footballers, but we would have liked more time with them together as a unit."

Ireland team

J Staunton (Garryowen); G Murphy (Leicester), B O'Driscoll (Blackrock College), K Maggs (Bath), G D'Arcy (Lansdowne); R O'Gara (Cork Constitution), P Stringer (Shannon); E Byrne (St Mary's College), F Sheahan (Cork Constitution), J Hayes (Shannon), M Galwey (Shannon), G Longwell (Ballymena), E Miller (Terenure), K Dawson (London Irish), A Foley (capt, Shannon).

Replacements: K Wood (Harlequins), P Clohessy (Young Munster), T Brennan (St Mary's College), S Easterby (Llanelli), G Easterby (Llanelli), B Everitt (London Irish), M Mullins (Garryowen).

PA