New faces for Japan

David Humphreys will captain a 26-man Ireland squad that will undertake a two-Test tour to Japan early next month. There are nine uncapped players in the travelling party under the guidance of coach Niall O'Donovan.

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan, defensive co-ordinator Mike Ford, team doctor Gary O'Driscoll and 11 players, including captain Brian O'Driscoll, travel with the Lions to New Zealand thereby facilitating the introduction of burgeoning talent on the Japan trip. Niall O'Donovan will be head coach for the journey to the orient, assisted by Michael Bradley (Connacht) and Mark McCall (Ulster).

There was an expectation that several of the more senior Irish players might be rested, but there is an experienced core to the party manifested in the presence of Reggie Corrigan, Simon Easterby, Eric Miller, Peter Stringer, Humphreys, Kevin Maggs and Girvan Dempsey.

Neither Anthony Foley nor Guy Easterby were considered as the Irish management opted to pursue other options in that area, while it was felt that Keith Gleeson, despite an astonishing recovery rate from two serious injuries would be better suited to a full pre-season in an effort to recover his form.

Alan Quinlan will undoubtedly be disappointed while others like London Irish second row Bob Casey, Connacht centre James Downey and Leinster Shane Jennings and Ben Gissing can be considered unfortunate.

There are nine uncapped players, Trevor Hogan (Munster), Roger Wilson, Matt McCullough, Kieran Campbell, Paddy Wallace (all Ulster), Kieran Lewis (Leinster), David Quinlan (Leinster), Conor McPhillips (Connacht) and Bernard Jackman (Connacht).

O'Donovan explained: "We could have opted to take 26 young guys with us to Japan, but that would have been a huge risk. This is Test-match rugby and these are going to be two difficult games.

"There are obvious pitfalls to having a team comprising solely of young players. What happens if the occasion got to them?

"You need that experienced backbone. The young players will benefit from playing and working with the more experienced players, guys who have been through the mill at Test level. We would have been doing the young guys a disservice to throw them in together.

"In losing in Buenos Aires Japan scored 30 points and there aren't many teams who do that against Argentina."

Japan's most recent outings have been against Hong Kong (97-3) and Korea (50-31).

Ulster second row Matt McCullough has been rewarded for an outstanding season while fellow second row Trevor Hogan (Munster) has made great strides over the past 18 months to nudge his way past players like Casey and Northampton's Damien Browne.

Ulster number eight Roger Wilson should win a first cap while behind the scrum Leinster's talented centre, Kieran Lewis, should fill the outside centre role. Conor McPhillip's presence means that theoretically there is a third scrumhalf option in the squad, although he's more likely to be employed on the wing.

Paddy Wallace and David Quinlan have toured with Ireland before to Australia, Tonga and Samoa but neither player was capped, a statistic that should be rectified this time round. Scrumhalf Kieran Campbell, the Ulster supporters' player of the year, is another who can reasonably expect to make his debut at some stage.

The Ireland squad will depart for Japan on June 4th from their camp in Limerick and will play the first of their two Tests in the 55,000 capacity Nagai Stadium, Osaka on Sunday, June 12th (6.0am Irish time).

The second Test will take place in Tokyo the following Sunday, June 19th (6.0am, Irish time) in the 28,000 capacity Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground. That match is already a sell-out.

FORWARDS (14): S Best (Ulster ), R Corrigan (Leinster), L Cullen (Leinster), S Easterby (LIaneli), T Hogan (Munster), M Horan (Munster) B Jackman (Connacht) D Leamy (Munster) M McCullough (Ulster), E Miller (Leinster) J O'Connor (Wasps), F Sheahan (Munster), D Wallace (Munster), R Wilson (Ulster).

BACKS (12): T Bowe (Ulster), K Campbell (Ulster), G Dempsey (Leinster) G Duffy (Harlequins), A Horgan (Munster), D Humphreys (C) (Ulster), K Lewis (Leinster) K Maggs (Ulster), C McPhillips (Connacht) D Quinlan (Leinster), P Stringer (Munster), P Wallace (Ulster).

STANDBY: G Brown (Leinster), J Downey (Connacht), B Gissing (Leinster), S Jennings (Leinster) C Keane (Connacht), R McCormack (Ulster), A Quinlan (Munster), P Shields (Ulster), J Staunton (Harlequins) .