Kidney Finalises Bench

Head coach Declan Kidney has confirmed the make-up of the Ireland replacements bench for Saturday’s GUINNESS Series 2008 Test match against Canada, with Ulster’s Ryan Caldwell the player to miss out.

Declan Kidney has finalised his 22-man squad for his first game in charge of Ireland, having initially named eight replacements on Tuesday due to various health issues with the players.

Ulster lock Ryan Caldwell is the player to lose out as Alan Quinlan and David Wallace stay in the matchday panel to bulk up the back row cover.

Wallace is fit to feature on the bench after recovering from a tooth abscess.

Explaining the decision to omit a specialist second row from the bench, Kidney said: “We just think, going into this game, there’s going to be a lot of activity in and around the breakdown, so we’ve gone with a few extra loose forwards.

“We have enough cover in the second row, we feel we can slot them in if needs be.

“(If there is an injury in the second row) it will be a bit of mixing and matching between scrums and lineouts. We’ve been practising it during the week and feel we have enough cover there.

“It’s a tough one on Ryan because he’s been going well at training. We had to weigh up a number of minute factors and we just felt that this was the best combination (for the bench).”

IRELAND TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v Canada, GUINNESS Series 2008, Thomond Park Stadium, Saturday, November 8, kick-off 5.15pm):

15 – Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)

14 – Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)

13 – Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)

12 – Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)

11 – Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)

10 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)

9 – Eoin Reddan (London Wasps)

1 – Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)

2 – Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)

3 – Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)

4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)

5 – Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)

6 – Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)

7 – Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)

8 – Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:

16 – Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)

17 – John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)

18 – Alan Quinlan (Shannon/Munster)

19 – David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)

20 – Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)

21 – Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)

22 – Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)