O'Sullivan denies bias claims
Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan has denied his team selection is biased towards home-based players after overlooking London Irish lock Bob Casey for Saturday’s clash with Romania.
Casey is one of the Guinness Premiership’s form second rows and his ongoing absence from the Ireland squad has caused bemusement in some quarters, with Exiles boss Brian Smith recently claiming O’Sullivan has not even been to see him in action.
Injuries to Paul O’Connell, Malcolm O’Kelly and Matt McCullough potentially opened the door for Casey to make his Test return, but Leo Cullen has been asked to partner Donncha O’Callaghan in the engine room with Mick O’Driscoll named on the bench as back-up.
O’Sullivan maintains Casey’s failure to force his way into the reckoning is purely down to form and points to the inclusion of other English-based players in his defence.
“Selection is based on who the best players are and the form they are in. People are saying Bob is the best player in the Premiership, but that’s a point of discussion,” he said.
“Everyone is considered. I think it’s unfair to pick a guy like Bob Casey and make a case as to why he should be in the team. Bob’s not far off. He’s in the hopper like a lot of locks are.
“It’s untrue to say we haven’t seen him because we have and we get video tapes of the matches we don’t get to. I can tell you what he did in all his games going into the autumn internationals.
“I spoke to Bob about his non-selection for the autumn and explained to him where he needed to improve. I do that for all the players. Bob knows where he stands.
“There isn’t any bias against a player because he plays in England, as has been suggested.
“Trevor Brennan is another name that has come up but we’ve been looking at him as a second row and not a back row, which is where Toulouse are playing him. But he’s certainly being watched. If he’s the man to come in, he’ll be picked.
“I wouldn’t like to give the impression certain players are exiled and that’s it. I’m happy to pick from abroad. Look at Simon Easterby, Geordan Murphy or Johnny O’Connor.
“There’s no bias and it would be madness for me to overlook someone because he’s at an overseas club.”
O’Sullivan was expected to make sweeping changes for Romania, but a combination of Ireland’s extensive injury list and the disappointing displays against New Zealand and Australia have resulted in just five new faces.
Leicester’s Cullen replaces O’Kelly who sustained concussion in the 30-14 defeat by the Wallabies, Simon Best comes in at prop with John Hayes dropping to the bench and Neil Best wins a start at number six in place of Simon Easterby.
In the backs, veteran Ulster fly-half David Humphreys will lead the side after being preferred to Ronan O’Gara at number 10, winning his 72nd cap in the Lansdowne Road encounter.
O’Gara struggled alarmingly against Australia until he was hauled off early in the second half and replaced by Humphreys, who proved equally disappointing as Ireland fell apart.
In the only other change to the threequarters, Humphreys is joined at half-back by his promising Ulster team-mate Kieran Campbell with Peter Stringer included among the substitutes. Campbell and Neil Best win their first starts.
Uncapped Munster hooker Jerry Flannery features on an experienced bench which features Hayes, Mick O’Driscoll, Easterby, Peter Stringer, O’Gara and Girvan Dempsey.
Explaining the few changes, O’Sullivan said: “We hoped to give some guys a go who weren’t involved over the last two games but injuries limited that. We wanted to get some new players on the pitch.
“I wanted to look again at the way Andrew Trimble and Gordon D’Arcy played together in the midfield because they looked very good as a partnership against Australia.
“The back row have also been playing very well. Denis Leamy has been the success of the autumn internationals and his chemistry with Johnny O’Connor is good. We’re trying to build for the Six Nations.”
Romania arrive at Lansdowne Road on the back of their maiden victory over Canada after completing a last-gasp 22-20 triumph in Bucharest last Saturday.
They have access to their professionals based in the French league but are still not expected to trouble Ireland, who should complete the autumn series on a high.
