O'Connor key to open game plan

Autumn Internationals: First and foremost, bumping into the Springboks in the coalface of Test match rugby is a test of one's, eh, physical fortitude.

Accordingly, and as expected, Eddie O'Sullivan has opted to put some concrete into the mix in the shape of Johnny O'Connor at openside for Saturday's renewal at Lansdowne Road, while buffeting up his midfield by switching the ample frame of Shane Horgan to inside centre for what will surely be shuddering collisions with De Wet Barry, Marius Joubert and co. The earth could well move.

They were O'Sullivan's two main areas of conjecture in light of the injuries to Keith Gleeson and Gordon D'Arcy. Mindful of Schalk Burger's huge physical presence at the breakdown and much else, O'Sullivan and the Irish think tank had toyed with the idea of playing Eric Miller at openside, but in the end plumped for the smaller all-action Wasps' tearaway and groundhog specialist, not least - one presumes - because it will facilitate a more expansive game.

Given so much happens at the tackle area, where Burger persistently either turned over Ireland's ruck ball or slowed it down to a snail's pace when he was the single most dominant influence in both Tests last June, taking a punt on O'Connor makes sense.

Despite his Test-match rawness, he's gamey and fearless as well as talented, with a voracious appetite for work, be it tackling, contesting ruck ball or carrying it. O'Connor couldn't have asked for a tougher baptism, but at 24 years of age there wasn't much point in waiting any longer.

"We all know the style of game he plays," commented O'Sullivan yesterday. "He's pretty much an out-and-out openside and he's good at the breakdown and a very good link player. He's on top of his game at the moment, it's a great opportunity for him and it's a great time to come in at the moment, for a home game."

Horgan has won only three of his 31 caps at inside centre, the last of them against Italy in the Six Nations three seasons ago, but Kevin Maggs misses out again, in part perhaps, because he's playing with a losing side.

Horgan's selection also allows O'Sullivan to accommodate both Geordan Murphy and Girvan Dempsey, as well as the return of Denis Hickie after a year's absence.

By any criterion, this is a exceptionally experienced Irish side. Even with a 24-year-old debutant in the back row, the average age of the team is over 28, with a cap haul of almost 39 per man. The profile of the back line, for example, is pretty much ideal.

Brian O'Driscoll, a worldly 25 and with over half a century of caps to his name, is the "baby" of the backs, and Dempsey, another with 50 Tests behind him, is the veteran at all of 29. Even the replacements bench (average age over 29) has more caps, 245, than many a starting line-up.

Surrounded by such a welter of experience O'Connor could scarcely have asked for a wiser head alongside him in his Test debut than the streetwise Anthony Foley. And the infusion of a fearless newcomer from the wild, wild west - albeit one honed at the front line of club rugby by the reigning English and European champions - may actually be something of a refreshing tonic in itself.

Credit in part then to Connacht. Just don't mention his club coach (Warren Gatland)! Discussing the prospect of O'Connor's international inauguration, O'Driscoll sounded almost as excited as O'Connor's legion of admirers from Connemara to London.

O'Driscoll has always been of the view that leadership comes more by dint of example than word of mouth, and that this comes from anyone and everyone on the team.

Having expressed the hope the presence of an out-and-out openside will facilitate a more expansive game, and the flanker's penchant for forcing turnovers at the tackle area, O'Driscoll commented: "I look forward to giving him (O'Connor) a pat on the back a few times during the game."

Nor is O'Driscoll in the least discommoded by having Horgan alongside him in a renewal of a midfield partnership that was first honed with Leinster six seasons ago. Granted, Horgan has scarcely played half an hour in two fleeting appearances as a centre with Leinster this season, but injuries notwithstanding, that's where he's played for much of the previous five years, and mostly alongside O'Driscoll.

O'Sullivan is comforted in the belief Ireland are fresher and stronger - by about five lbs per man - than when playing the Springboks last June.

"We trained five days on the bounce last week and even on Friday they were on their toes, which is a good sign. One of the masseurs informed me that there's more muscle to massage. He's seen a huge difference since the summer. They're all bigger and stronger so we've clawed a bit of that deficit we had with the South Africans. And while I'm always conscious of tempting fate, there is a good buzz there at the moment."

Against all of that, he acknowledges the Tri-Nations champions are an improved team to the one Ireland met last summer.

"They seemed to have an extra gear whenever they needed it in Cardiff and I think they'll be annoyed with themselves they took their foot off the pedal a couple of times. So for that reason they're a better team than they were in June, they're more mature, and yet they haven't lost any of their physicality. But in our favour it's the end of a long season for them and they're playing in Lansdowne Road, which makes it difficult for anybody coming here."

All in all, it's hard to quibble with O'Sullivan's selection, a slight one - at the risk of repeating oneself - being the absence of Wallace even as an impact player from the bench. After his extended pre-season he struggled to regain his place in the Munster team from Denis Leamy - yet in the heel of the hunt he's started as many games, four, as Miller this season. And in the second Test in Cape Town especially, he was Ireland's best means of go-forward ball. To some extent he's been a victim of the extended pre-season.