Six Nations:The late withdrawals of Johne Murphy and Denis Hurley have hampered the Ireland management somewhat in selecting the Ireland A side to face England Saxons at the Recreation Ground on Sunday.
It would appear club commitments mean Leicester man Murphy is unavailable, while Hurley has not yet recovered from a leg injury, meaning the second string, to be renamed the Irish Wolfhounds in time for next Friday’s meeting with Scotland, has been denied some of it’s expected bite.
In their absence Connacht’s Gavin Duffy and Fionn Carr will start at fullback and right wing respectively, while Munster’s Ian Dowling completes the back three.
Keith Matthews of Connacht and Leinster’s Fergus McFadden form the central partnership outside halfbacks Paddy Wallace and Peter Stringer.
Wallace’s inclusion may suggest the decision for the senior inside centre berth has already gone the way of Leinster’s Gordon D’Arcy, perhaps leaving the Ulsterman as a versatile option on the bench.
In the pack there are welcome returns to action prop Marcus Horan and hooker Rory Best, who will scrum down alongside Tony Buckley in the frontrow.
The side will be captained by Munster lock Mick O’Driscoll, who will partner Devin Toner in the secondrow.
The hotly contested backrow places go to Shane Jennings at blindside flanker, Seán O’Brien at openside and Connacht’s John Muldoon at number eight.
Jennings is himself only recently returned from suspension and will be gunning for a place in the senior side to face Italy in the opening fixture of the Six Nations proper against Italy on February 6th – as of course will O’Brien, who made his senior debut against Fiji in the autumn and won his second cap in the win over world champions South Africa a week later.
Ireland A team v England Saxons:Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht); Fionn Carr (Galwegians/Connacht), Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Keith Matthews (Buccaneers/Connacht), Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster); Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster), Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster); Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster); Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster) (captain), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster); Shane Jennings (St.Mary's College/Leinster), Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
Replacements:John Fogarty (De La Salle Palmerston/Leinster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster), Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster), Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster), Ian Humphries (Ballymena/Ulster), Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
