Humphreys handed Ireland start
David Humphreys has won the battle of the Irish fly-halves for Saturday’s World Cup opener with Romania in Gosford.
Humphreys edged out Ronan O’Gara for the coveted stand-off slot as coach Eddie O’Sullivan plotted the perfect start to his Pool A campaign against the Eastern Europeans, who are expected to be dismissed with the minimum of fuss.
“I have an embarrassment of riches at fly-half and while Ronan played well in the autumn warm-up games, David was fairly consistent before then and he just edged it,” said O’Sullivan.
“Both of them are world class players but nothing is set in stone at this stage and we will see how it goes at the weekend.”
With Geordan Murphy ruled out with a broken leg, Girvan Dempsey is handed the full-back slot, while Shane Horgan returns to the wing for the first time since February after finally recovering from a long-standing thigh problem.
Also included on the other wing is Denis Hickie, who will equal the Irish backs record for Test appearances by winning his 41st cap.
In the pack, inspirational hooker Keith Wood has been handed the captaincy, while Australian-raised flanker Keith Gleeson has earned one of the three back-row slots.
O’Sullivan has also promised John Hayes some game time after naming the burly prop on the replacements bench.
“I am eager that this should not be about an Irish XV but more an Irish squad,” said O’Sullivan.
“As a coach, I want to run a ship where everyone is happy. I realise that is not possible all the time but the players who are not picked have to share the same goals and aspirations as those who are.”
With a 100 per cent record from their previous six meetings with the Romanians, anything but a comprehensive Irish win would be regarded as a massive shock.
The bonus point on offer for scoring four tries is an obvious target, as will the hope Ireland avoid injuries ahead of the more testing encounters with Australia and Argentina later in the competition, which will determine whether O’Sullivan’s side advance to the last eight.
Despite the lofty expectations surrounding his team, O’Sullivan insists he will be happy with a victory no matter how long it takes.
“If it took 79 minutes I would live with it,” he said. “Every team in this competition will be going out to play as hard as they can for as long as they can.
“People can get carried away by setting targets but the scoreline is not more important than actually winning the game.
“I don’t want the team to push things too quickly and start doing silly things.
“Romania caused us problems the last time we played them and they have enough strength in their forwards to do the same again if we are not careful.”
Ireland team to play Romania in World Cup Pool A at Central Coast Stadium, Gosford on Saturday, October 11 (8am Irish time).
G Dempsey (Leinster); S Horgan (Leinster), B O’Driscoll (Leinster), K Maggs (Bath), D Hickie (Leinster); D Humphreys (Ulster), P Stringer (Munster); M Horan (Munster), K Wood (Munster, cpt), R Corrigan (Leinster), M O’Kelly (Leinster), P O’Connell (Munster), V Costello (Leinster), K Gleeson (Leinster), A Foley (Munster).
Replacements: S Byrne (Leinster), J Hayes (Munster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), A Quinlan (Munster), G Easterby (Rotherham), R O’Gara (Munster), J Kelly (Munster).
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