Eddie O'Sullivan has insisted he has chosen the right man for the job of putting Wales to the sword in the RBS 6 Nations Championship on Saturday.
The Irish selectors made three changes to the side which beat France 10 days ago, bringing in forwards Alan Quinlan and Leo Cullen to replace the injured Victor Costello and Gary Longwell respectively.
The third change was not enforced by injury problems, though, as London Irish star Justin Bishop replaced Munster's John Kelly on the right wing to mark his return to the side after suffering a broken hand.
It is a blow for Kelly who had played well against both Italy and France and O'Sullivan said: "It was a difficult decision to bring Justin in ahead of John. They are both quality players.
"We called it for this game because we think Justin is the man for this particular job. I just think he's the right person to play on the wing against Wales. The opposition was a consideration."
As for the absence of calf injury victim Costello and Longwell (hamstring) O'Sullivan added: "It could be worse. The injuries to Gary and Victor are not serious but we had to consider the season as a whole.
"They might have been able to play but it could have had a knock-on effect. I'd like to think that, as a management team, we put the issue of player welfare at the top of the list.
"We have a responsibility to make sure that this comes first. I think both of these players will be available for selection after Saturday and others, such as Emmet Byrne, Girvan Dempsey and maybe Shane Horgan could also come into the equation after that."There's no point in flogging a player and taking risks when they're not quite right. We've a responsibility to make sure their recovery can take a proper course."
O'Sullivan accepted the injuries were in part a product of the intense format of the 2003 championship.
"People have made suggestions that it will be good training for the World Cup when we will have to play games in successive weeks.
"The thing is that the World Cup is a stand-alone competition once every four years.
"The Six Nations is different because players are going into it on the back of other games, both provincial and international and when they come out of it most of them will still be involved in games of high intensity.
"There's no point in complaining about it however because the structure is cut in stone for a couple of years anyway. We just have to live with it and do our best in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.
"It's just the way it is. Having to play games at six-day intervals isn't much good for any of these players."