Ireland Team Announcement

…Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan, two of the four second rows in line to start for Ireland on Saturday, are pictured with flanker Simon Easterby during the defeat to France last month…

Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan is waiting on the fitness of Munster lock Paul O’Connell before confirming his side for Saturday’s 6 Nations showdown with Scotland (Lansdowne Road, kick-off 3.30pm).

O’Connell, whose left shoulder injury saw him sit out the recent win over Wales, will undergo a fitness test on Thursday to determine his availability for the Scottish Test.

O’Sullivan, who named his team for Saturday at lunch-time today, has left two vacancies in the second row with the replacement second row position also down as “A.N. Other.” The second row berths are the only outstanding selection issues for Ireland – the remainder of the team is unchanged from that which defeated Wales 31-5 last month.

Along with O’Connell, Malcolm O’Kelly, Donncha O’Callaghan and Ireland “A” team captain Mick O’Driscoll are in contention for a spot in the second row.

The final second row pairing and replacement will be confirmed on Thursday afternoon following O’Connell’s fitness test.

Leinster centre Brian O’Driscoll will captain Ireland for the 26th time on Saturday.

The Ireland team to play Scotland in the RBS 6 Nations Championship (Lansdowne Road, kick-off 3.30pm, Saturday, March 11) is:

15 – Geordan Murphy (Leicester) 37
14 – Shane Horgan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 43
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (Captain) (Blackrock College/Leinster) 62
12 – Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 18
11 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster) 4
10 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster) 58
9 – Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster) 64

1 – Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster) 35
2 – Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster) 4
3 – John Hayes (Bruff/Munster) 60
4 – A.N. Other
5 – A.N. Other
6 – Simon Easterby (Llanelli) 47
7 – David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster) 25
8 – Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster) 9

Replacements:

16 – Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 3
17 – Simon Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 12
18 – A.N. Other
19 – Johnny O’Connor (Wasps) 11
20 – Eoin Reddan (Wasps) 1
21 – David Humphreys (Dungannon/Ulster) 72
22 – Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster) 62

Second rows to be selected from:

Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 22
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) 31
Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster) 4
Malcolm O’Kelly (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 78

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