Easterby loses out to Miller, but only just

RUGBY: Revenge  may be England's spur on Saturday but whereas only five of their vanquished Grand Slam hopefuls from last October line out again, yesterday's recall of Malcolm O'Kelly and Eric Miller means that 13 of Ireland's heroes from that eventful day will ride into Twickenham for this eagerly awaited showdown. Gerry Thornley reports

The Leinster pair return for the injured Paul O'Connell and, in a tight call, the demoted Simon Easterby. This means that only the injured Keith Wood and Shane Horgan are missing from the team which beat England last year.

"They were both difficult decisions because Gary Longwell had a huge game when he came on and Simon Easterby had a huge game," admitted coach Eddie O'Sullivan yesterday. "At the end of the day we went with what would have been the original selections (against Wales) had Malcolm and Eric been passed fit. So, we're handing the baton to them but they need to follow through with performances now based on the competition behind them."

Despite only playing one club game since injuring his jaw against Newcastle on January 8th, O'Kelly impressed on his comeback for St Mary's at the weekend and his specialist middle-of-the-line, ball-winning ability predictably won the nod over Longwell.

Easterby had arguably one of his best ever games for Ireland against Wales but O'Sullivan maintains that Miller "has been in the form of his life up to now. It was one of those tight calls that went Eric's way".

Miller himself admits that "looking at him (Easterby) as a blindside flanker and knowing what you have to do, he got through a great work-rate." He also admitted: "It's been fairly staggered for me since the Celtic League final."

Indeed, while Miller is happy with his fitness levels, since his first-half, sending-off in that Celtic League final two months ago, he has played one club seconds match, a European quarter-final and one AIL game.

Easterby is relatively more match-hardened at the moment and an exceptional option at the line-outs where England look like being markedly better than they were last October. However, while Miller might also play the riskier game, he also provides a greater ball-carrying threat.

While eager to put the rout of Wales behind them, O'Sullivan revealed that when the players did come together in Dublin last Wednesday to review the Welsh game they were critical of some areas of their game. "We still think we have places to go in defence, we still think our continuity game needs some development and our set-pieces could have been a bit tighter at times."

There was a slight scare at training yesterday when Longwell had to be carried off Dr Hickey Park after a heavy fall in lineout practice but he is fine according to O'Sullivan. Today is a rest day as they travel over to London.

Six of the starting side survive from that depressing 50-19 thrashing on Ireland's last visit to Twickenham two years ago, but the Irish coach admitted: "It's probably not the worst thing in the world to have a little fear in your belly going into Twickenham. It does focus the mind. But I think certainly guys who go back are now trying to put that right."

Meanwhile, the cast has been removed from Keith Wood's damaged calf, which has made "a major improvement" and will be assessed daily next week, as will Shane Horgan's rib injury and recurring heel problems. Both could yet come back into the reckoning for the Scottish game in Dublin on Saturday fortnight.

Even the Irish A side has rarely moved on from one fixture to another so smoothly. The only change from the team which beat Wales 55-22 sees Keith Gleeson accomodated at open side after dropping down from the senior squad, with Andy Ward moving down to the replacements at the expense of Tony McWhirter.

IRELAND A (v England A, Northampton, Friday): P Wallace (Ulster); G D'Arcy (Leinster), J Kelly (Munster), M Mullins (Munster), T Howe (Ulster); P Burke (Harlequins), N Doak (Ulster); R Corrigan (Leinster, capt), P Shields (Ulster), S Best (Ulster), L Cullen (Leinster), J Davidson (Ulster), A Quinlan ( Munster), V Costello (Leinster), K Gleeson (Leinster). Replacements: G Hickie (Leinster), M Horan (Munster), B Casey (Leinster), A Ward (Ulster), B Willis (Leinster), J Holland (Munster), A Horgan (Munster).