Six changes in side to face Scotland

Six changes from the side beaten by Italy, 10 from the last Five Nations outing which was also against Scotland and, for good measure, another 10 changes on the `A' side. Wherever green is worn, all is changed, changed utterly. And come 4 p.m. or thereabouts tomorrow week at Lansdowne Road it will be either terrible or beautiful, for there is very little middle road in Irish rugby.

Injuries are the primary reason for Ireland having such a relatively unsettled side going into the Five Nations and the latest round of changes aren't unexpected; in most cases being the reward for a return to form and/or health. There are recalls for Conor O'Shea, Richard Wallace, Brian O'Meara, Paul Wallace, David Corkery and Kieron Dawson, while an added positional alteration sees Dennis Hickie switch to the left wing.

Making way are Kevin Nowlan, Darragh O'Mahony, Niall Hogan, David Erskine and Dylan O'Grady - with Hogan on the bench and the rest (apart from the injured Clohessy) moving to the `A' side which plays their Scottish counterparts in Donnybrook this day week. There is no recall for Nick Popplewell, who is confined to a place on the bench due to the retention of Reggie Corrigan.

By and large, the team falls along fairly predictable lines although it's a bold enough selection and something of a calculated gamble. O'Meara and Humphreys have been preferred to Hogan and Elwood, with the halves' speed of hand being complemented by two speedy poachers on the wings.

Whether the midfield speed of hand will be up to the equation, or provide an attacking threat of its own, is a decidedly moot point. However, the previous penchant for an all-footballing, all-singing, all-dancing back-row was an acknowledged error on Brian Ashton's part and has been tempered by the recall of a big hitter, Corkery, who was not even included in the squad session nine days ago.

Hogan, given his battling qualities and greater presence, is unfortunate bearing in mind his creditable all-round performance in Bologna. Similarly, Ashton and the selectors went for the slicker handling and creative vision of the mercurial Humphreys (one win from seven caps) over the superior tackling, defensive organisation and more proven international temperament of Elwood (nine wins and a draw out of 21 starts).

It's a bit of a gamble given the almost desperate need to end the 11-year winless sequence against the Scottish nemesis in the pivotal Five Nations opener. The outcome, after all, will decree the mood for the ensuing month prior to the daunting trip to Paris.

Coupled with the choice of Wallace and Hickie on the wings, it is also perhaps a statement of intent to move the ball and the Scottish pack wide. The Irish coach acknowledged this when commenting on O'Meara's selection ahead of Hogan.

"Without giving too many secrets away, I think you can probably read into that fairly accurately that that's what we're trying to do, yeah."

Then again, a similar policy and the selection of the O'Meara-Humphreys half-back partnership against the Scots in Murrayfield on the ides of March was hardly a rip-roaring success. Along with Hickie and Paul Wallace, the recall of Corkery brings to five the number of survivors from that depressing 38-10 defeat.

It's ironic for Corkery, given that his broken hand and his porous tackling which ensued at Murrayfield condemned him to the wilderness pretty much ever since. That, and maybe some frank views on the development tour which didn't sit easily with at least one member of the management team. But come in number six, your time is up.

"As you know all season we've been trying to get the balance right in the back-row. I hold my hand up. I've made a couple of mistakes I think by playing too many footballers," admitted Ashton.

"That's not to say that David Corkery isn't a footballer, but (I mean) out-and-out footballers. Probably at this moment in time we do need some-one in the backrow who physically can put it about a bit and hopefully David Corkery will do that at Lansdowne Road and bring in a bit of football ability as well."

As for the retention of Corrigan, (along with Kevin Maggs, Malcolm O'Kelly and Dawson, one of four players making his Five Nations debut) Ashton said that the injury troubled Popplewell has "not played a great deal of rugby recently. Reggie Corrigan replaced him against Italy and I felt was one of the successes in the side and deserves another chance."

It was always going to be a tight call on the wing, where Ashton admitted that Darragh O'Mahony was "extremely unlucky" to miss out. "We've really gone for two out-and-out strike players," Ashton explained, adding that Richard Wallace had expressed a preference for the right wing while the left-footed Hickie had told the coach of his preparedness to play on either flank. "He played leftwing for the Irish schoolboys and in fact left-wing was his preferred position as a youngster."

As with O'Mahony, who had lined up in the apparent first choice XV in Wednesday's training, Ashton also had words of consolation for Kevin Nowlan. Here again, like Richie Wallace, the return to fitness and try-scoring form of O'Shea proved irresistible, with the rider that "he gives us a little bit more solidity than Kevin."

Moving closer to a first cap is the Ballymena centre Stanley McDowell, who covers for the three-quarter-line and full-back on the bench.

Ashton accepted that another six changes, taking the number of players used in four internationals this season to 29, had "not made life easier for everyone concerned. The ideal scenario would be the same XV week-in, week-out and that's ultimately what we're aiming for. We'll see how we go a week on Saturday."

The coach reiterated his belief that Ireland can beat the Scots but wisely played down the supposed disarray in the Scottish camp followed the resignation of their coach Richie Dixon and the assistant coach David Johnston.

As for the revolving selectorial door that is the `A' side, only Michael Lynch, O'Mahony (via the senior team), Paul Burke, Justin Fitzpatrick and the captain Gabriel Fulcher are retained from the laborious win over Canada.

Admittedly, Nowlan, and the back-row of Eddie Halvey, Victor Costello and O'Grady are moving down a notch, but there are a few springers. In from nowhere comes Stephen Bell, not even invited to a session this season, ahead of replacement Stephen McIvor. Yet ironically, when they met in a Garryowen-Dungannon match recently, the out-of-sorts Bell had been tactically substituted.

Another real springer is Moseley's Damien Geraghty, as a replacement hooker. Who he? A 30-year-old New Zealander with a Galway father, revealed Whelan. Meantime, the Skerries and Connacht stalwart Billy Mulcahy, of Ballina extraction, has been banished despite not missing a throw and generally performing well against Canada.

Both for the message it sends out and the shabby treatment of Mulcahy, it somehow doesn't sit right.

Heineken Cup finalists Bath touched down in Bordeaux last night with their American ace Dan Lyle claiming: "We have the ability to beat Brive."Lyle, a former Washington Redskins gridiron prospect, is the pivotal figure among Bath's all-international back row trio.Bath flew out from Gatwick minus their former England captain Phil de Glanville.