O'Sullivan leaves second-row options open
Ireland boss Eddie O’Sullivan has delayed naming his second row for Saturday’s RBS Six Nations clash with Scotland in order to give Paul O’Connell time to recover from injury.
O’Connell sustained damage to his shoulder in the clash with France and missed the 31-5 victory over Wales but was expected to be given the all clear to face Scotland.
However, O’Sullivan revealed today he will give the Lions forward another 48 hours to prove his fitness.
He said: “We’re not sure about Paul and want to defer that decision until Thursday morning. I don’t know what the chances of him playing are.
“We really thought he would make the Wales game but we found out on the Tuesday he wouldn’t play. At the moment he’s 50-50 and we need 48 hours more to decide.
“There’s no point making the decision now. Paul trained today but we have to be careful with how much work he does. It’s an AC shoulder problem which has been slow healing.”
If O’Connell is passed fit, Malcolm O’Kelly, Donncha O’Callaghan and Mick O’Driscoll will compete for the remaining place in the second row.
One will be named on the bench with the third – almost certainly O’Driscoll - dropping out of the squad altogether.
Ireland team to face Scotland at Lansdowne Road on March 11:
G Murphy (Leicester); S Horgan (Leinster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, captain), G D'Arcy (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster); R O'Gara (Munster), P Stringer (Munster); M Horan (Munster), J Flannery (Munster), J Hayes (Munster), M O'Kelly (Leinster)/P O'Connell (Munster)/D O'Callaghan (Munster)/M O'Driscoll (Munster), S Easterby (Llanelli), D Wallace (Munster), D Leamy (Munster).
Replacements: R Best (Ulster), S Best (Ulster), M O’Kelly (Leinster)/P O’Connell (Munster)/D O’Callaghan (Munster)/M O’Driscoll (Munster), J O’Connor (Wasps), E Reddan (Wasps), D Humphreys (Ulster), G Dempsey (Leinster).
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