Stringer on hand to face England

RUGBY/ Six Nations Championship: No less than when confirming Brian O'Driscoll's return on Tuesday, Eddie O'Sullivan scarcely concealed his contentment when announcing that Peter Stringer will return to the Ireland team to face England at Croke Park tomorrow for his 73rd cap. Ireland may have moved to a new home, but Stringer remains part of the furniture. Gerry Thornley reports

Indeed, the nuggety little scrumhalf has become such an integral part of the Irish set-up that the defeat to France marked the first Six Nations' game he had missed since his debut in the redemptory win over Scotland seven years ago this week. In the intervening 35 championship games, the only time Stringer didn't start was in the foot-and-mouth era, re-arranged game against Scotland at Murrayfield in September 2001, and after that 32-10 defeat Ireland learned never to repeat the mistake.

Revealing that Stringer had come through a rigorous training session yesterday without any bother and would start, with Isaac Boss reverting to the bench, O'Sullivan ruled out any undue chance of Stringer's injury being a risk.

Now Ireland's second most capped player, prior to missing the French game with a fractured hand, Stringer had played in 72 of 77 Irish Tests (all but four from the start), being rested for games against the USA, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Italy in a World Cup warm-up match at Thomond Park in August '03, since when he played in 38 consecutive Tests before last Sunday week's defeat.

Such statistics are a remarkable testimony to the 5ft 7in scrumhalf's durability and consistency, all the more so when you add in over 100 games with Munster, including 67 Heineken European Cup matches. Add in his understanding with Ronan O'Gara, with whom he has played most of those European Cup games and close on a half century of Tests, and the bulk of the Munsteresque pack, and in contrast to England's injury woes, his return can only be a boon.

Describing Stringer's pass as probably the best of any scrumhalf in the game, O'Sullivan commented: "He gives the receiver so much time on the ball.

"The odd one goes astray, but when you're passing 60 or 70 times a game there's going to be one or two off target. His passing is world-class and he has the capacity to get us out of jail. He's done that a couple of times in big games when there's been massive line breaks and you can see nothing but a try coming, and he comes out of nowhere to make a hand-trip or something.

"The best way to describe Peter is it's not the dog in the fight, it's the fight in the dog. He does box well above his weight, he puts in a huge number of tackles and he always tackles someone bigger than him, and he's a good organiser. He barks at the pack, he keeps them in line and they're all afraid to cross him. That dynamic is very important in a pivotal position," added the Ireland coach.

"Isaac (boss) did a very good job the last day, a slightly different player, and I thought he had a fine game, but I suppose Peter has that extra edge of experience, he knows the pack that little bit better so all those factors come into the equation. There's a little bit of pressure on Peter to come out with a big game, but he's one guy you don't worry about under pressure and the bigger the occasion the harder he works, and that's why it's good to have him back," said O'Sullivan, with defensive coach Graham Steadman nodding in approval alongside him after yesterday's session in Croke Park.

The Ireland squad had a bit of a scare when Gordon D'Arcy slipped and fell on his shoulder, but, said O'Sullivan, "he's fine, no bother". Ditto some bloke called Brian.

O'Sullivan again addressed the issue of Ireland's tendency towards slow starts at length. Explaining Ireland's preference for playing for territory from their own kick-offs or restarts, he said: "It's a low percentage play that you'll win a kick-off even if you put it right on the 10 (metre line).

"The one they (France) won to win the game was a miraculous tennis serve into the middle of the pitch, so it's probably not in your game plan to do that on an average day.

"If you go for the 10-metre, on the money, and you don't win it, now they're another 30 metres up the field with the ball. So that's a tactical decision and it depends on who you're playing, their personnel, what they're good at, what they're not good at."

Employing Shane Horgan's aerial skills up the middle or on the opposite flank, for example, is a tactic Ireland have occasionally employed in the past, most notably against Australia a few years ago. But, O'Sullivan maintained, it is not a tactic Ireland can afford to overplay.

O'Sullivan's preference for opting for territory off kick-offs is to obtain what he calls "a beach head position" if the opposition kick for touch, although he admits, a la South Africa last November, teams don't always play ball and can surprise Ireland by running the restarted recycle wide and taking play into the Irish 22. Whether Ireland employ something as radical waits to be seen.