Gatland forced to experiment

With one eye on the All Blacks six days subsequently, one eye on Manu Samoa this Sunday as well as their players' health, and even a nod towards the future, the Irish management were in danger of making themselves dizzy this week.

To cap off a disrupted week another player, Shane Horgan, broke down in training yesterday morning, and it seemed fitting that Brian O'Brien's glasses were broken in Lansdowne Road yesterday before the Irish manager announced a team showing eight changes from the starting XV which beat England.

After an exhausting burst of three internationals and four European Cup games in a seven-week period, a half-dozen of the heroes who derailed the English chariot last time out have been deemed too battered to be risked against the ultra-physical Samoans, namely Girvan Dempsey, Denis Hickie, David Humphreys, Malcolm O'Kelly, David Wallace and, as of yesterday, Horgan.

Another pair, Keith Wood and Peter Clohessy, have been left on the bench to facilitate a first start for Emmet Byrne and a first home start for Frankie Sheahan.

Elsewhere Gary Longwell, Kieron Dawson and Ronan O'Gara return to the starting line-up, while an outside three features the one Test debutant, Jeremy Staunton at full back, his fellow 21-year-old Gordon D'Arcy in his first start on the left wing and on the right Geordan Murphy, a late call-up in place of Horgan.

Another potential debutant is Barry Everitt, who understudies O'Gara on the bench. Mick Galwey is the only survivor from the defeat to Samoa five years ago. Yet in a team featuring seven Munster men another nod to the future is the choice of Anthony Foley to lead his country on the day.

"I think we see Anthony Foley as an alternative captain of the future," said Warren Gatland yesterday. "We know Mick (Galwey) will still give us the leadership that's required in terms of his experience and his support. One of the things we have identified, and one of the things the team has been criticised for, is providing leadership not just from the captain but from other players. This is an opportunity for Anthony to experience that and I believe he'll benefit from that in the future."

Gatland admitted it had been their intention to rest a couple of players before the All Blacks game due to the tight timespan.

"Unfortunately a number of changes have been forced on us. There are two or three players on that injured list who could have taken the field on Sunday at 80 or 90 per cent but then the medical advisers said there would have been a good possibility they would have ruled themselves out for the following week."

Today will be a designated day off, as will Monday and Wednesday next week. "Players have been playing 13 to 14 weeks in a row and they're our top players, their bodies are at the stage where they need a rest," said Gatland.

This effectively leaves only tomorrow for a full team run-out, and hence the only chance for the outside three to practise together. "We haven't had the back three together as yet because Geordan Murphy is still in transit, so it's not the perfect preparation for a new back three and a change at outhalf into the mix as well," admitted assistant-coach Eddie O'Sullivan.

This will be the seventh game which the unlucky Dempsey has missed since being sidelined for the World Cup, and yet Staunton will be the fifth full back Ireland will have tried in those seven matches, first resorting to Conor O'Shea (v England in Twickenham) and then trying Murphy (three times), Peter McKenna and Dominic Crotty.

Ironically, D'Arcy is converted from full back - indeed the Staunton-D'Arcy double act dovetailed quite potently in their more favoured roles at Irish under-21 level - and comes into this game on the back of his least impressive performance of an otherwise impressive season.

Referring to his defensive errors against Newport, Gatland said: "He played well for Leinster earlier on but probably didn't have one of his better games against Newport last week. He'll admit that, but I don't think his selection should be judged on one relatively poor performance, he's being judged on his consistency over the season, and he's been one of the best wingers in the country. It's also pleasing to see a couple of other wingers who weren't playing as well earlier in the season, Tyrone Howe and Anthony Horgan, starting to show some form."

With Murphy being promoted, Howe and Horgan will form the Irish A-wing pairing against New Zealand in Ravenhill next Tuesday night. Some eye-catching selections see Gavin Duffy and Paddy Wallace make their debuts at this level at full back and outhalf, as does the upwardly-mobile Keith Gleeson.

IRELAND A (v New Zealand, Ravenhill on Tuesday, k.o. 7.30 pm): G Duffy (Galwegians); A Horgan (Cork Constitution), J Kelly (Cork Constitution), J Bell (Dungannon), T Howe (Dungannon); P Wallace (Ballymena), B O'Meara (Cork Constitution, capt); R Corrigan (Lansdowne), S Byrne (Blackrock College), S Best (Belfast Harlequins), L Cullen (Blackrock College), M O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution), A Quinlan (Shannon), V Costello (Blackrock College), K Gleeson (St Mary's College). Replacements: P Shields (Ballymena), J Fitzpatrick (Dungannon), P O'Connell (Young Munster), T McWhirter (Dungannon), B Willis (Blackrock College), A Dunne (Old Belvedere), P McKenna (St Mary's College).