OUTSIDE HALF Eric Elwood has been recalled to the senior international stage for the match with France at Lansdowne Road on Saturday. There are five changes in personnel and one positional alteration from the Ireland team which lost to Italy.

The panel of replacements includes prop Gary Halpin: his last senior match was in the World Cup in South Africa in the summer of 1995. He had opted out of the international game last season to concentrate on his responsibilities as captain of London Irish.

But by the time manager Pat Whelan announced the team on Saturday, Halpin, in fact, knew that even if he had been recalled as player or replacement, it was unlikely that he would be able to accept the invitation he injured his left knee playing for London Irish against Gloucester in the afternoon and he feared that the injury was serious.

Confirmation of that came after a scan yesterday afternoon and he will visit a specialist today to find out if an operation will be necessary to repair damage to the medial ligament.

"To say I am disappointed is to understate my feelings," said Halpin yesterday after returning from the hospital. "There is absolutely no way I will be able to sit on the bench on Saturday. I had hoped for a recall; now I get it and cannot accept it. I felt the door was opening for my return to the international team and that makes the position especially disappointing.

"I can only hope now that the injury will not keep me out of the game for long, but I will not know the full extent of the problem until after I see the specialist," he said.

When Elwood walked off the field at Thomond Park last Saturday, after playing for Lansdowne against Shannon in the AllIreland League, his face mirrored his feelings of disappointment. His side had just lost to Shannon and, with the loss, also the leadership of the league and a 100 per cent record.

Nor did he expect, that within a few hours he would hear news of his return to the Ireland side. "I do not expect to be chosen," he said, "much though I'd like to be. I will be very pleasantly surprised if I am in the team.

News of his pleasant surprise was conveyed to him on the train back to Dublin. "One of the party had a mobile phone and he got the news that I had been chosen against France," said Elwood. "The rest of the journey was certainly better after that especially as we were feeling a bit down after losing to Shannon.

"I am really looking forward to training under Brian Ashton over the next couple of days. I am pleased too that the match against France is at Lansdowne Road, a ground that holds a special appeal to me. I think that will help us. I know we are in a tough situation, but we have been in that position before and fought our way out of it and I think we will again. The level of expectation is not high, so in that context we have nothing to lose."