Ireland coach Declan Kidney has named an unchanged Ireland side for this weekend’s Six Nations clash against Wales.
Kidney has decided to go with the same match-day 22 that defeated Scotland at Murrayfield last time out for the Millennium Stadium clash, in which Ireland will be hoping to keep alive their hopes of a Triple Crown and their extremely faint hopes of a Six Nations Championship.
Kidney’s decision to name an unchanged XV from the Scotland game is hardly a huge surprise. The only real area down for the debate was at half-back, where Ronan O’Gara has held off the challenge of Jonathan Sexton after a masterful display at Murrayfield, while Eoin Reddan holds on to the number nine jersey despite the return of Tomás O’Leary from injury.
O’Leary will sit out Saturday’s encounter entirely, with Kidney opting to stick with Peter Stringer as back up to Reddan at scrum half.
Ireland’s clash with Wales kicks off at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday at 5pm.
Ireland: Luke Fitzgerald; Tommy Bowe, Brian O’Driscoll (captain), Gordon D’Arcy, Keith Earls; Ronan O’Gara, Eoin Reddan; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Mike Ross; Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell; Sean O’Brien, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Tom Court, Leo Cullen, Denis Leamy, Peter Stringer, Jonathan Sexton, Paddy Wallace
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