Ireland Team To Face England Named

Brian O’Driscoll will return to captain Ireland in Sunday’s RBS Six Nations clash with England, after coach Eddie O’Sullivan named him as his only change to the side which defeated Scotland 40-13.

Gordon D’Arcy has been ruled out however, failing to recover from the hamstring injury which saw him miss the Murrayfield win, ten days ago.

O’Driscoll – who spent last week rehabilitating his own hamstring strain with D’Arcy in Spala, Poland – takes his familiar position of outside centre, with Leinster colleague Shane Horgan partnering him, in place of the benched Kevin Maggs. Gavin Duffy – a try scorer against the Scots – loses out in the replacements.

O’Sullivan said: “Gordon is not right yet. He has not been comfortable in training and there was no point taking a risk with him. His recovery will take longer than we thought – there’s nothing sinister in it.”

On O’Driscoll’s return, he added: “Brian looked fine in training on Tuesday and was fine today too. We will take a look at him over the next couple of days but all the indications at the moment suggest he will be fine.”

It will be fly-half Ronan O’Gara who will lead Ireland out against the World champions at Lansdowne Road, on the occasion of his 50th cap.

The 27-year-old Munster man is just nine points shy of breaking the 500-point barrier in Test rugby – boasting an enviable record of seven tries, 89 penalty goals, 7 drop goals and 84 conversions since making his debut against Scotland in 2000.

Other players reaching landmarks will be flanker Simon Easterby – who will be winning his 40th cap – and the long-serving Anthony Foley – who is set for his 60th.

The Ireland team to play England in the RBS Six Nations at Lansdowne Road on Sunday, February 27 (kick-off 3.00pm), is as follows:

15 – Geordan Murphy
(Leicester), DOB 19/04/78, 28 Caps
14 – Girvan Dempsey
(Leinster – Terenure College), 02/10/75, 55 Caps
13 – Brian O’Driscoll
(Leinster – Blackrock College), 21/01/1979, 56 Caps (Captain)
12 – Shane Horgan
(Leinster – Lansdowne), 18/07/1978, 36 Caps
11 – Denis Hickie
(Leinster – St. Mary’s College), 13/02/76, 48 Caps
10 – Ronan O’Gara
(Munster – Cork Constitution), 07/03/77, 49 Caps
9 – Peter Stringer
(Munster – Shannon), 13/12/77, 53 Caps
1 – Reggie Corrigan
(Leinster – Greystones), 19/11/70, 41 Caps
2 – Shane Byrne
(Leinster – Blackrock College), 18/07/71, 35 Caps
3 – John Hayes
(Munster – Bruff), 02/11/73, 51 Caps
4 – Malcolm O’Kelly
(Leinster – St. Mary’s College), 19/07/74, 70 Caps
5 – Paul O’Connell
(Munster – Young Munster), 20/10/79, 26 Caps
6 – Simon Easterby
(Llanelli), 21/07/75, 39 Caps
7 – Johnny O’Connor
(Wasps), 09/02/80, 3 Caps
8 – Anthony Foley
(Munster – Shannon), 30/10/73, 59 Caps

Replacements:
16 – Frank Sheahan

(Munster – Cork Constitution), 27/08/76, 21 Caps
17 – Marcus Horan
(Munster – Shannon), 07/09/77, 25 Caps
18 – Donncha O’Callaghan
(Munster – Cork Constitution), 23/03/79, 15 Caps
19 – Eric Miller
(Leinster – Terenure College), 23/9/75, 44 Caps
20 – Guy Easterby
(Leinster – Blackrock College), 21/03/71, 28 Caps
21 – David Humphreys
(Ulster – Dungannon), 10/09/71, 66 Caps
22 – Kevin Maggs
(Ulster – Belfast Harlequins), 03/06/1974, 67 Caps

Not considered due to injury: Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster – Lansdowne) {Leg}, Keith Gleeson (Leinster – St. Mary’s College) {Leg}, Neil McMillan (Ulster – Ballymena) {Knee}. Denis Leamy (Munster – Cork Constitution) {Hamstring}