RUGBY/Ireland Squad News: Ronan O' Gara and Girvan Dempsey will today be named in the Irish squad for the Six Nations game against Scotland on Sunday week in the confident expectation both players will be passed fit for the Murrayfield opener.Gerry Thornley reports.
The 22-man panels for that game and the A game in Sterling the night before, will be announced this morning and the former is not expected to deviate from the squads which were on duty against Australia and Argentina last autumn.
Denis Hickie was concussed in the win over the Wallabies and missed the Argentina game when Justin Bishop deputised, but the latter is injured while Hickie is fit again. Hickie's half-time replacement against Australia, John Kelly, was also injured and subsequently ruled out of the win over the Pumas when Geordan Murphy was on the bench. The selection of Kelly or Murphy as the utility back to provide cover is likely to be a very tight call.
The versatile and under-rated Kelly, the basis for his original selection in the squad against Australia, is possibly favourite, but Murphy, who has been in a rich vein of form for Leicester, is more of a game-breaker to spring from the bench, and as he showed in training yesterday, takes attacking lines at pace in a way only Brian O'Driscoll could better.
Otherwise, the squads for those wins over Australia and Argentina were unchanged, although Simon Easterby is back in the frame and playing well for Llanelli to complicate the highly-competitive back-row area where the management will have to perm four from the six on duty in Naas this week.
Jeremy Davidson must also be pushing Leo Cullen a little closer given his improved form with Ulster, with coach Eddie O'Sullivan loudly singing his praises. Cullen, however, was held up as something of a standard-bearer before and during his breakthrough tour to New Zealand, then remaining in the squad in the autumn and playing excellently in Leinster's wins over Montferrand.
The two players still considered slightly doubtful are Davidson and O'Gara, with the former obliged to sit out activities over the three days in Naas with a badly bruised thigh, "but that could clear up rapidly," said Ireland manager Brian O'Brien. O'Gara is still recovering from Brett Sinkinson's stamp on his ankle in the Celtic League final.
Although Dempsey (groin) and Peter Stringer (calf) sat out all or part of yesterday morning's final session more as a precautionary measure, Dempsey trained on Wednesday and O'Brien was confident both players would take a full part in training next week.
"We just didn't put Girvan into the heavy duty stuff, that's all," said Brian O'Brien.
Paul O'Connell was also running at full tilt under the watchful eye of Irish physio Mike McGurn and will have the cast removed from his left hand next week.
Kevin Maggs returned home a day early at the request of his club, Bath, while it also transpired Jeremy Staunton, Donnacha O'Callaghan and Paul Burke were added to the original 31 names by the time the squad came together on Monday night.
O'Driscoll will assuredly continue captaining the side for although Keith Wood is hoping to return to action before the Six Nations concludes, he's been advised to proceed with caution and any return during the championship would be regarded as a bonus.
As the tournament is condensed over seven weeks instead of 10, this places a greater emphasis on the need to get preparations in early.
"It was a high-tempo session; excellent skills and excellent commitment, and we've certainly brought the whole panel back into international mode," said O'Brien. "We needed to do that this week, so that when we get-together next week it'll be done and dusted, and we'll be able to get on with the game plan."
The squad's switch from their customary base in Greystones to the Citywest Hotel and Naas Rugby Club was largely due to location as, just off the M50, it is more easily accessible for most of the players travelling from outside Dublin or abroad.
