Humphreys just shades it

Whatever else the Irish management might be accused of, an inconsistent selection policy is not one of them.

Despite external pressure to recall Saturday's match-winning hero Ronan O'Gara, they have retained the in-form, player-in-situ David Humphreys at outhalf, also recalling the fit-again duo of Victor Costello and Gary Longwell for Sunday's Grand Slam, grand finale against England at Lansdowne Road.

The two minor surprises are on the bench, where Paul O'Connell is recalled to the exclusion of the decidedly unfortunate Leo Cullen. Girvan Dempsey, having apparently overcome his nagging groin problem, is also recalled to provide cover at full back and John Kelly unluckily misses out.

Amid the throng at the squad's base in the Citywest Hotel, also home to this week's Irish Masters snooker tournament, the huge media gallery was likened to Brian Kerr's public inauguration. Eddie O'Sullivan and Brian O'Driscoll gave two hours and 20 minutes of interviews on the hoof, including seven television interviews to conduct out on the helicopter pad - there was nowhere else big enough.

Such amiable co-operation struck a particularly resonant cord with the English media and typical of the relaxed mood within the Irish camp at a sun-kissed morning session in Terenure, the attending throng prompted Declan Kidney to observe wryly toward Eddie O'Sullivan that there "must be a big game on".

The first item on the agenda, however, drew a thoughtful and perhaps weary pause from O'Sullivan as he looked briefly toward the ceiling. The outhalf conundrum.

"It's always a tough call in the current climate. The two flyhalves are top-class players but there's no real drama in it. We looked at the game again closer and David Humphreys had a fine game until he was taken off. Ronan came on and was very heroic in his performance but over the game we felt the team had functioned well with David.

"He performed particularly well in his kicking, out of hand and off the ground, and as before there was no real compelling reason to make a change. It's always been a difficult call but we're staying with the form player."

Cullen and Kelly can never have been so crestfallen at missing out on a 22-man squad. Cullen, especially, can feel particularly aggrieved given he'd been an ever-present in the squad during this season's record-breaking Irish run of 10 wins, and hasn't exactly done much wrong.

O'Connell has not appeared for Ireland once this season, and has played only four competitive games for Munster, breaking his hand in the last of them in Munster's Celtic League semi-final win over Ulster before Christmas. But he's back in training for a few weeks, has played for his club Young Munster and came through a friendly with Munster against Borders last week.

If he does make an appearance, he will become Ireland's 35th player of the season.

The management clearly feel he's more likely to make a physical impact against the imposing English pack (with the proviso that he's not too wound up). Even so, it can't have been easy for Eddie O'Sullivan to explain this to Cullen.

"It's probably one of the most difficult discussions I've ever had with a player," admitted O'Sullivan.

"It was a very tough call but we're looking at somebody coming off the bench to make an impact in the game, and we feel Paul just slightly edges it there. Having said that Leo's performed exceptionally well, from the start and off the bench, and it's one of those harsh, heartbreaking calls you have to make."

Once Costello and Longwell had proven they'd overcome their respective calf and hamstring problems, they were always likely to be recalled. No Victor - no yardage. And between them they add four stone to the pack's bulk.

After what he admitted were two nervous performances, O'Sullivan commented: "now there's a different view next Sunday. We're playing the best rugby team in the world, whose record over the last couple of years is incredibly strong. Having said that, they're coming to our back yard and we're looking forward to getting right into it with them." Management and players alike spoke of the Lansdowne Roar, an ever-increasing factor in their run of eight wins at the venue (and 11 wins out of 12) which O'Sullivan attached almost mystical powers to. "It is a factor - you ask any of the players.

"The support we get behind the team at Lansdowne Road is hard to quantify but it makes them all six inches taller, they run two seconds faster and they hit 10 kilos heavier. That's the home factor and certainly Lansdowne Road has produced that for us, and I've no doubt it will next Sunday."

Comparing modern Test rugby to "a chess game played on adrenalin", like Clive Woodward, O'Sullivan emphasised the importance of recovery and rest this week to keep the team as fresh as possible, though he observed that the intensity of this condensed championship "might affect the rugby from a spectator's point of view."

That said O'Sullivan acknowledged that Ireland will have to play altogether better than they did last weekend. "I think we just have to play to our potential, and that's the key for any team. We can't turn them into supermen overnight, so the key for us on Sunday is to give the performance of our lives. That's all it's about really. If we do that then England will have to play out of their shirts to beat us, and that's the landscape we want on Sunday."

Not much to ask then. The performance of their lives in the chance of a lifetime.