RUGBY: When push came to shove, as is his conservative nature, Eddie O'Sullivan reverted very much to the old guard. Obliged to pick his largest frontline test squad (30) since the South African tour two years ago, O'Sullivan has recalled players who must have feared hell would freeze over before they would be called in from the cold.
Uppermost among them is the Munster captain Anthony Foley, whose selection will assuredly be a popular decision this week. There are also merited recalls for Keith Gleeson, Denis Hickie, John Kelly, Leo Cullen and Jeremy Staunton as well as, more surprisingly, Gavin Duffy, ignored all season on the grounds he was playing English first-division rugby against the likes of the Pertemps Bees.
Meantime, like his Leinster team-mate Jamie Heaslip, Robert Kearney has been named in the A squad, despite playing in 22 Heineken Cup or Celtic League games and scoring eight tries.
In contrast to, say, Graham Henry, who took a developmental approach to the All Blacks' end-of-season Grand Slam tour last autumn, O'Sullivan has declined to take a closer look at Heaslip and Kearney, and the chances of them earning valuable experience in a bid toward making the World Cup squad have gone. Indeed, this looks very much like a marker for O'Sullivan's squad in 2007.
An exception is the talented if enigmatic Staunton, who is elevated to understudy Ronan O'Gara in light of the retirement of David Humphreys, having had his career rescued by Wasps and lately secured the number 10 jersey with the deposed English champions ahead of Alex King.
It will be interesting to see if Staunton gets some game time on this tour, perhaps even a starting role against the Wallabies if not in the initial two Tests, against the All Blacks.
Taking into account the 28-man A squad for the Churchill Cup, no Irish coach has ever had to delve deeper in any summer into Ireland's well of players. But hell clearly will have frozen over before Bob Casey ever gets a call-up. The London Irish totem in their excellent season has seemingly dirtied his bib indefinitely for having voiced frustration over repeated exclusion during the coach's 54-match, four-and-a-half year reign.
Even Cullen, well though he's played for the Tigers, has had less game time than Casey this season, and it's certainly hard to credit that many coaches would pick Matt McCullough, Damien Browne, Trevor Hogan and David Gannon ahead of Casey, who is thus no higher than 10th in the secondrow pecking order. One senses 100th might be nearer the mark, just ahead of Trevor Brennan. There is talk of Casey needing ankle surgery this summer but he is not listed as one of those not considered due to injury.
The quartet ruled out (a remarkably slim number) are Malcolm O'Kelly, Simon Easterby, Johnny O'Connor and Eoin Reddan. O'Kelly is suffering from an ongoing groin injury that may require surgery during the summer. Easterby and O'Connor have not played since getting injured during the Powergen Cup final in April.
Reddan's groin niggle opens the door for Isaac Boss, one of only two uncapped players in the test squad along with his Ulster team-mate Bryan Young, the upwardly mobile prop. A vacancy has been left open, primarily it seems for Alan Quinlan to prove his fitness, which could ultimately leave Munster with 13 in the squad, seven from Ulster, six from Leinster (Gleeson being the province's only forward) and four from England.
The A squad, who will have group games against the USA Eagles and the New Zealand Maori in San Francisco before meeting Canada, England A or Scotland A in Edmonton, boast only four capped players among their 28 (and six of their combined eight caps were won in Japan).
Surprising omissions are Niall Ronan, Stephen Ferris (who is presumably earmarked for the Under-21 World Cup) and the Leicester-based Ian Humphreys, the newly revealed outhalf pecking order showing Paddy Wallace and Leinster's Eoghan Hickey are ahead of him.
The squad has eight from Ulster, six from Leinster, six from Connacht, four from Munster and four from English clubs. Among the eight Ulstermen are the relatively unknown tighthead pair of Tom Court, a 24-year-old Irish-qualified Australian who has played with Queensland A and Manawatu, and the English-born Ireland under-21 World Cup finalist Declan Fitzpatrick.
Nine of this squad have never been picked at A level.
Michael Bradley is head coach. But not even a season working within the confines of Connacht's limited budget can have prepared him for this.
IRELAND A SQUAD: BACKS (13): Bryn Cunningham Ulster, senior caps 0 (A caps 3), Ian Dowling Munster 0 (1), John Hearty Connacht 0 (1), Eoghan Hickey Leinster 0 (0), Chris Keane Connacht 0 (2), Robert Kearney Leinster 0 (1), Simon Keogh Harlequins 0 (0), Mossie Lawlor Munster 0 (2), Kieran Lewis Leinster 1 (3), Andrew Maxwell Ulster 0 (0), Tomás O'Leary Munster 0 (2), David Quinlan Northampton 2 (1), Paddy Wallace Ulster 0 (8). FORWARDS (15): Brian Blaney Leinster 0 (1), Damien Browne Northampton 0 (0), Tom Court Ulster 0 (0), Declan Fitzpatrick Ulster 0 (0), John Fogarty Connacht 0 (2), David Gannon Connacht 0 (0), Jamie Heaslip Leinster 0 (2), Ray Hogan Connacht 0 (2), Trevor Hogan Munster 0 (2), Shane Jennings Leicester (capt) 0 (3), John Muldoon Connacht 0 (0), Ronan McCormack Leinster 0 (4), Matt McCullough Ulster 4 (3), Neil McMillan Ulster 0 (0), Roger Wilson Ulster 1 (3).
TOUR MANAGEMENT: Michael Bradley (coach), Mark McCall (assistant coach), Allen Clarke (assistant coach), Joey Miles (manager), Michael Webb (doctor), Dan McFarland (video analysis), Johnny O'Hagan (baggage), Gareth Robinson (physiotherapist), Aidan O'Connell (fitness advisor)
CHURCHILL CUP SCHEDULE: Saturday 3rd June: England A v Scotland A, Toronto; USA v Ireland A, San Francisco. Wednesday 7th June: Canada v Scotland A, Ottawa; USA v New Zealand Maori, San Francisco. Saturday 10th June: Canada v England A, Toronto; New Zealand Maori v Ireland A, San Francisco. Saturday 17th June: All three finals, Edmonton.
All nine matches will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
