Rugby:Ireland coach Declan Kidney will plan without Jerry Flannery and Luke Fitzgerald, for the time being at least, as he prepares for the forthcoming autumn internationals. Both picked up injuries on Heineken Cup duty last weekend and were omitted from Kidney's 34-man panel announced this afternoon.
Fitzgerald, who took a bang to his hip against Saracens is, in all probability, the more likely of the two to see some action in the series. The Leinster back had a scan on the injury yesterday and and it is thought he should be back in training by the end of the week.
Flannery, making his first appearance of the season for Munster, suffered a recurrence of the calf problem against Toulon and is due to see a specialist this week.
While many saw the matches against South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina and Samoa as an opportunity for Kidney to assess his strength ahead of next year’s World Cup, there aren’t too many surprises in what will be deemed a conservative selection.
While Geordan Murphy and Leo Cullen are overlooked, although Kidney did appear to leave the door slightly ajar for the Leinster skipper, the only two uncapped players in the squad are Johne Murphy and Devin Toner.
Veterans such as John Hayes, already in the twilight of a wonderful Ireland career, are retained and the likes of Connacht’s Jamie Hagan will have to bide their time for an opportunity at this level.
Elsewhere, Darren Cave, Fionn Carr and Fergus McFadden may consider themselves unfortunate not to be involved in the initial selection while Gavin Duffy and Shane Horgan, fringe players at most for Kidney over the last couple of seasons, are preferred.
“We felt it was important to have at least 30 fit players to choose from in terms of setting the foundations for November and it was better for those who picked up knocks to be assessed back in the provinces and when they have the all clear, to come back into the squad,” Kidney said today.
“Jerry and Luke are in that position, as are fellas like Tomás (O’Leary) and Leo who may well come back into the mix depending on their recoveries and game time that they may need to build up over the next couple of weeks.
“We need everybody in a position to be able to contribute in training and while we may well leave a window for those coming back, all the players in the squad are deserving of their chance. There are a lot of players who are unlucky not to make this squad, but the door will remain open to them also during November to join up with the panel.”
Ireland kick the series off against South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on November 6th.
Ireland squad
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster), Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster), Tom Court (Malone/Ulster), Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht), Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht), Keith Earls (Thomond/Munster), Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster), Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster), John Hayes (Bruff/Munster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster), Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster), Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster), Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster), John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht), Johne Murphy (Young Munster/Munster)*, Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster), Mick O’Driscoll (Constitution/Munster), Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary’s College/Leinster), Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)*, Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster), Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster), David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
* Uncapped player.