St Mary's College flanker Trevor Brennan is rewarded for an influential outing in the A international against England last Friday night with promotion to the senior squad for Saturday week's Five Nations Championship match against Scotland at Murrayfield.
Brennan is added to the 22-man squad that was on duty for the English match at Lansdowne Road with Dungannon centre Jonathan Bell, an original selection, recalled in place of Garryowen's Killian Keane. Ireland coach Warren Gatland has decided to include Brennan following a high profile, and in terms of discipline, blemish free display against the shadow England side.
Gatland affirmed: "We were pretty happy with his (Brennan's) form in the A game. He has been criticised for his disciplinary lapses in the past but he was very controlled in that match. He gives us options for now and in the future." Brennan's aggressive tackling was sadly lacking in the Irish back-row for the Five Nations game last weekend.
His presence in the squad is an ominous sign for the present incumbents and suggests that much could depend on next Saturday's AIB league matches and Irish squad training early next week. Gatland candidly identified the fringe defence as one of the more disappointing aspects of Ireland's performance. "We didn't make the big tackles round the fringes, as England did, with the result that we weren't able to turn over ball.
"It was not part of Dion's (O'Cuinneagain) brief as he has a different role but for Andy (Ward) and Victor (Costello) it was a disappointing match." Both appeared to lack match sharpness, hardly surprising in the case of Costello given that he has played only 15 minutes in four weeks because of his rib cartilage problem. The player publicly concedes that he needs to play week in week out to stay in match condition.
Ward's heavily strapped knee, the legacy of a knee ligament injury, and by his standards ineffective performances in the last two matches suggest that he may require a little good fortunate to survive next Tuesday's selection process, a day which Costello will view with some dread. By way of consolation the latter has one final opportunity to convince the Irish team management that England was an aberration.
He comes face-to-face with Eric Miller at Templeville Road on Saturday when St Mary's College take on Terenure. Ireland team manager Donal Lenihan will be an interested spectator. Jonathan Bell will make a decision tomorrow as to whether he will play for Dungannon on Saturday. The Irish team management has informed the player that he is not under pressure to play this weekend.
The A team, as is customary, shows wholesale changes from the side that lost 28-21 to England at Donnybrook on Friday. John McWeeney's defensive uncertainty in that match has cost him his place, the St Mary's College wing replaced by Darragh O'Mahony. Niall Woods switches to the right wing to accommodate the Bedford player.
Killian Keane, an original choice for the England game before being promoted to the senior squad, replaces Barry Everitt at out-half but it is his halfback partner Brian O'Meara that is perhaps the most surprising choice. The Cork Constitution scrum-half becomes the third player following Guy Easterby and Tom Tierney - he drops to the bench - to wear the number nine jersey.
Gatland explains: "Brian has been unlucky with injury. He had a disappointing tour of South Africa but played pretty well for Munster in the early games we saw this season before getting injured. He has been playing well for Con and has several test matches under his belt. We want to see how his present form rates at higher levels.
"We are looking for a balance, some input from the A team management and using the opportunity to assess a player's development. We want players who have a chance of playing for Ireland. That's why there are a couple of players perhaps better than some in the team, not included because we want to select players with the potential to play at the highest level."
Ireland (Squad): C O'Shea (London Irish), J Bishop (London Irish), K Maggs (Bath), J Bell (Dungannon), R Henderson (Wasps), G Dempsey (Terenure), D Humphreys (Dungannon), E Elwood (Lansdowne), C McGuinness (St Mary's), C Scally (UCD), P Clohessy (Young Munster), J Fitzpatrick (Dungannon), K Wood (Harlequins), R Nesdale (Newcastle), P Wallace (Saracens), P Johns (Saracens, capt), J Davidson (Castres), M Galwey (Shannon), D O'Cuinneagain (Sale), T Brennan (St Mary's College), V Costello (St Mary's College), E Miller (Terenure), A Ward (Ballynahinch).
Ireland A: S Mason (Ballymena); N Woods (London Irish), S Horgan (Lansdowne), M Murphy (Galwegians), D O'Mahony (Bedford); K Keane (Garryowen), B O'Meara (Cork Constitution); J Screene (Buccaneers), A Clarke (Dungannon, capt), J Hayes (Shannon); G Fulcher (Lansdowne), M Blair (Ballymena); D Corkery (Cork Constitution), A Foley (Shannon), E Halvey (Shannon). Replacements: P Duignan (Galwegians), B Everitt (Lansdowne), T Tierney (Garryowen), M Cahill (Buccaneers), F Sheahan (Cork Constitution), G Longwell (Ballymena), A Quinlan (Shannon).
