by Brendan Cole
Declan Kidney has made four changes to the Ireland team to face Australia in Ireland’s crucial Pool C clash in Auckland on Saturday morning.
Watch Ireland v Australia live on RTÉ 2 and RTÉ.ie/sport from 9am, listen on RTÉ Radio or follow live tracking on RTÉ.ie/sport (kick-off 9.30am).
Ireland beat the USA 22-10 in their Pool C opener on Saturday with a performance that had some calling on the coach to make radical calls. But, with two of the four changes announced expected prior even to the USA game, he has settled for minor surgery.
As expected, Sean O’Brien and Cian Healy return to the pack after sitting out last weekend. O’Brien was not risked against the USA as he was recovering from knee problem while Healy has recovered from eye socket damage.
Shane Jennings and Tom Court are the men who lose out.
Kidney has opted to reshuffle his misfiring back division with Eoin Reddan and Rob Kearney brought in to the starting team in place of Conor Murray and Geordan Murphy.
Kearney did not feature in the squad last week but replaces Murphy at full-back. The Leinster man has a strong track record against the likes of South Africa and New Zealand, particularly away from home, and brings exceptional skill under the high ball and strong tackling to the team.
Reddan and Sexton paired again
Reddan comes in for 22-year-old Murray and will partner Jonathan Sexton, who continues at out-half ahead of Ronan O’Gara. O’Gara must again be content with a place on the bench despite an assured spell in the second half against USA last week. Murray is also among the substitutes.
Provincial team-mates Reddan and Sexton have played just 15 minutes of rugby together in the last five Ireland matches and the hope is that their partnership will give the backline the fluency and cohesion that was sorely lacking last week.
The centre partnership and wings are unchanged from last week. Captain Brian O’Driscoll will win his 115th cap at outside centre while Gordon D’Arcy also earns another start despite his difficult outing against the USA. Tommy Bowe and Keith Earls are retained on the wing.
The switches mean that all but two places in the backline are filled by Leinster players with wingers Earls and Bowe the odd men out.
Minimal changes made to pack
Kidney has opted against change in the marginal calls in his forward pack with Rory Best retaining his place at hooker ahead of Jerry Flannery, who is named on the bench. Second row Donncha O’Callaghan and number eight Jamie Heaslip also continue in the starting XV.
Flannery may not be fit in time for Saturday’s clash after pulling up with a calf strain during training. He is due to have an MRI scan on the injury. If he is not able to take his place on the bench, Sean Cronin will step in.
Mike Ross starts at tighthead and will be one of Ireland’s prime hopes of getting at the Australian pack, which struggled against the Italian scrum. Pack leader Paul O’Connell starts alongside O’Callaghan in the second row.
O’Brien will wear the number seven jersey – tasked with leading the effort to contain Australian openside David Pocock – with Stephen Ferris at blindside.
Court is named on the bench but Jennings drops out of the 22-man squad. Flannery, Donnacha Ryan, Denis Leamy and Andrew Trimble are the others named on the bench.
Twitter: #rterugby / @RTErugby
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rterugby
IRELAND team to face Australia in RWC 2011 Pool C at Eden Park, Auckland on Saturday, 17 September (9.30am):
15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O’Driscoll, 12, Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rory Best, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 5 Paul O’Connell, 6 Stephen Ferris, 7 Sean O’Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: 16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Conor Murray, 21 Ronan O’Gara, 22 Andrew Trimble