O'Sullivan opts for the tried and Tested

RUGBY/ Tour of South Africa: If continuity of selection counts for anything, Ireland have certainly never had a better chance of recording a first win on South African soil. In recent times South Africa selections have been so unsettled their teams must barely have been on first-name terms.

The Irish side, unchanged again from the team which beat Scotland over three months ago, could probably play alongside each other blindfolded.

The slightly madcap, ever-changing days of Rudolf Streauli may have passed and though Jake White will seek to have a more settled team in years to come, inevitably under their new coach the Springboks have again been given another complete facelift.

By contrast, Ireland have started just 20 players since the beginning of the Six Nations. Tried and tested combinations abound. Most obviously, aside from countless other outings at under-age level and for Munster, this will be the 26th time the Peter Stringer-Ronan O'Gara halfback pairing has started a Test and eighth time in a row. Their Munster team-mate Anthony Foley has been the number eight on 22 of those days.

It's the 12th time the front row of Reggie Corrigan, Shane Byrne and John Hayes will have started a Test shoulder to shoulder. The Malcolm O'Kelly-Paul O'Connell axis has already packed down 10 times together this season. Even the Brian O'Driscoll-Gordon D'Arcy midfield combination will be in harness for the fifth Test in succession.

Streauli never settled on such established combinations, and it will take White years to achieve it. When the going gets tough, at the moments of acute intensity, when fatigue sets in, that's when intuitive, settled combinations hold firm.

And as Eddie O'Sullivan freely admits, he's never had such a full hand to play with on a summer tour. "It was probably as routine as it gets," the Irish coach said of his unchanged selection, "in that we had everyone available from the Six Nations' final game. It was pretty straightforward enough. I think it's a positive for us, to be able to continue with the side that carried us through the Six Nations by and large."

The one area where O'Sullivan might have been tempted to make a change was in the back row, given Alan Quinlan's return to fitness for the first time since damaging his shoulder while scoring that priceless try against Argentina in Adelaide in the World Cup last October.

His inclusion in the 22 is the only alteration from the squad that was on duty against the Scots, but O'Sullivan ultimately wasn't inclined to re-unite the back-row combination which played against the Pumas even though the Boks' pack are of similar stature.

"We're trying to keep the balance of the back row at the moment. Alan certainly wouldn't be an out-and-out seven so that would have changed the dynamics of the back row that we have been using. We don't want to tinker with that at the moment unless there is a good reason."

David Wallace isn't a groundhog, breakdown specialist in the mould of the injured Keith Gleeson, but the hard, dry pitch on the high veldt of Bloemfontein should be tailor made for his top-of-the-ground running style.

Accordingly, after scoring on each of his last three appearances, Wallace starts back-to-back Tests for the first time since the 2002 Six Nations.

Ireland's relative rude health reflects well on the management of the squad. Having been "on the hunt", as O'Sullivan puts it, since last July, they've cut down on the length of training this week if not at the expense of intensity.

Having brought 16 back-up staff to the World Cup, this "less-is-more" emphasis is facilitated by a more streamlined, 11-man management team here. As with Tony D'Arcy's scrummaging position, there has been no replacement, per se, for the departed Declan Kidney, though interestingly the esteemed scrum guru Roly Meates was brought in for a couple of days during last week's camp in Ireland.

Defensive drills, counter-attacking and restart work - with the touring Suttonians' squad in attendance - was punctuated by a punishing scrummaging session yesterday under the supervision of Niall O'Donovan at the multi-sport, Villager Football Club complex. Also home to the Celtic Harriers Athletics Club, the main entrance is located at 11 Lansdowne Road, no less.

There's also the issue of playing at altitude, though O'Sullivan is at pains not to dwell on this, and believes it will be as much a mental issue as physical.

"We'll be sucking air a little bit more than normal but it's a frame of mind more than anything. I think we're mentally tough enough to deal with it. I'm not overly concerned about it. Maybe we'll spring guys (from the bench) a little bit earlier but that depends on the dynamics of the game as well."

While playing down that one-time hoary old chestnut of whether Ireland carry the mantle of favourites into this series, O'Sullivan maintains it would be dangerous to describe these Springboks as ripe for the plucking. "A wounded Springbok is a dangerous Springbok. What we get out of Saturday, we'll have to earn, but we would like to think that we will reciprocate that as well."

O'Sullivan believes the Springbok coach has nailed his colours to the mast with his selection. "It's a run-and-gun team, pretty much along the lines we thought ourselves. I think from the structure of their side you can tell what they're trying to do. How they'll do it exactly is the conundrum for us, but I've a pretty good idea of how they're going to play the game and I think it is what South African rugby is good at."

Opponents: South Africa

Venue: Bloemfontein

Date: Saturday, 2.0

On TV: Sky Sports 1

IRELAND TEAM

15 Girvan Dempsey

14 Shane Horgan

13 Gordon D'Arcy

12 Brian O'Driscoll (captain)

11 Geordan Murphy

10 Ronan O'Gara

9 Peter Stringer

1 Reggie Corrigan.

2 Shane Byrne

3 JohnHayes

4 Malcolm O'Kelly

5 Paul O'Connell

6 Simon Easterby

7 David Wallace

8 Anthony Foley

Replacements: 16 Frank Sheahan, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Alan Quinlan, 20 Guy Easterby, 21 David Humphreys, 22 Kevin Maggs.