Ireland team news: Ireland's most capped player, Malcolm O'Kelly, has been left out of an extended 36-man squad for this weekend's clash against England. Coach Declan Kidney assembled the panel in Dublin last night with O'Kelly's absence the most striking omission.
O’Kelly came through Leinster’s Magners League win over Llanelli unscathed on Saturday, playing the full 80 minutes, and has featured in both Six Nations squads so far in this campaign.
But there is seemingly no place for the veteran lock in Kidney’s plans for Croke Park as Ireland attempt to maintain their 100 per cent start to the championship against Martin Johnson’s struggling England.
His absence means John Hayes will equal his tally of 92 appearances for Ireland, should he feature, as expected, against England, while captain Brian O'Driscoll will move to within one of the that landmark.
There were no injury scares to speak of for the Irish players involved in Magners League and English Premiership action over the weekend and Kidney will run the rule over his squad in training at the RDS this morning before making a final decision on his matchday 22.
And it appears unlikely that the coach will be performing major surgery to his starting line-up – which will be named tomorrow lunchtime – with the inside centre and hooker roles the main selection calls.
Gordon D’Arcy turned in another impressive performance against the Scarlets and given his impact from the bench against both France and Italy could well move ahead of Paddy Wallace in the pecking order.
Similarly, Ulster’s Rory Best will also be hoping to supplant Jerry Flannery in the front row.
Elsewhere, Kidney must choose who he prefers to O’Kelly as back-up for Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan with Alan Quinlan’s ability to cover both second and back rows making him a strong contender.
Ireland Squad
Forwards: Rory Best (Ulster), Tony Buckley (Munster), Bob Casey (London Irish), Ryan Caldwell (Ulster), Tom Court (Ulster), Stephen Ferris (Ulster), Jerry Flannery (Munster), John Hayes (Munster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Marcus Horan (Munster), Bernard Jackman (Leinster), Shane Jennings (Leinster) Denis Leamy (Munster) Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster) Paul O'Connell (Munster) Mick O'Driscoll (Munster) Alan Quinlan (Munster) David Wallace (Munster)
Backs: Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Darren Cave (Ulster), Girvan Dempsey (Leinster), Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster), Keith Earls (Munster), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster), Shane Horgan (Leinster), Robert Kearney (Leinster), Geordan Murphy (Leicester), Eoin Reddan (Wasps), Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster), Ronan O'Gara (Munster), Tomas O'Leary (Munster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) Peter Stringer (Munster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Paddy Wallace (Ulster)
