Rugby: Reactionary, wholesale changes have never been Eddie O'Sullivan's style. Even so, although the Irish coach has only made one change in personnel from the team which lost the first Test 31-17 for Saturday's seasonal finale against the Springboks in Cape Town, he has retained his capacity for surprise.
Most observers, and players alike, had expected Kevin Maggs to be restored in place of the injured Gordon D'Arcy alongside Brian O'Driscoll in a midfield partnership that has started 31 Tests together. Instead, O'Sullivan has opted for the Shane Horgan-O'Driscoll pairing which, while well established for Leinster over the last five seasons, has only been tried three times at Test level.
Horgan has won only three of his 30 caps at centre, and the only time O'Sullivan has played him there was in the 32-17 win at home to Italy in March 2002.
The ripple effect sees virtually a reconstructed three-quarter line, with Tyrone Howe recalled on the left wing, Geordan Murphy switching across to the right, and presumably O'Driscoll reverting to outside centre. Summer Tests are nothing novel for Howe, whose latest recall for his 14th cap comes on his sixth tour. Otherwise the team and replacements' bench is unchanged.
Explaining his rationale for the decision yesterday, O'Sullivan said: "It's not exactly the same dynamic as with Gordon, and it's not exactly the same dynamic as with Kevin Maggs. I think it's something in between, so we're looking to see how that works."
Without being as tricky on his feet as D'Arcy, Horgan does have better footwork and changes of angle than Maggs, while also having some of the Bath man's crash-ball ability. Horgan looks more confident and in better nick than most out here, judging by another clever, hard-working and try-scoring display last Saturday, and his inclusion as inside centre also keeps the Boks guessing, as they'd have comparatively less homework done on him alongside O'Driscoll.
A tough decision on Maggs though, as O'Sullivan admitted. The Bath centre must have thought it was going to be his turn after doing little wrong in his fifth successive appearance as a replacement.
Another notable feature is that Girvan Dempsey will win his 50th cap. Dempsey scored two tries on his debut as a replacement in the World Cup qualifier against Georgia in 1998, but, as he won his next five caps on the wing, he remains nine short of the record for a full back, held by Tom Kiernan.
Sensibly tapering off the workload this week, with much of their attention centred around meetings and mental approach, O'Sullivan, as with any Irish coach approaching an end-of-tour, end-of-season match, will try to ensure the squad isn't distracted by thoughts of impending holiday time come Sunday.
Memories remain of the 33-0 defeat here in the second Test six years ago, not to mention the 27-all draw with Canada in 2000, or the 40-8 defeat in Auckland two years ago. That said, the 32-26 defeat in Perth in 1999, and the 40-14 win in Samoa last summer bucked the trend, and the abiding disappointment with their own performance last Saturday ought to ensure a reaction this week.
"There's no hiding from the fact we didn't perform as a team. They're well aware of that and more annoyed with themselves than anything else. It's the last game of the season and the only good thing about losing last Saturday is that there's an opportunity to put it right this Saturday," said O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan had no option but to wryly concede his stated tour objectives of two good performances had not been reached. "What can I do only reset my goals? I'm not being flippant but we're not going to get two good performances out of the tour, let's be honest. All we can do now is make sure we get one.
"I suppose I'm expecting we will. I still think there's one performance left in this team. This is our 15th Test since last August, which is a pretty unprecedented year but it's been a good year and to finish on a low would take some of the good out of it."
Aghast at the cliched idea that Ireland would like a downpour come Saturday, this selection may also signal a desire to test the Boks a little wider and a good deal more often than last Saturday. The forecast is for wet conditions at Newlands and O'Sullivan's counterpart, Jake White, cited his expectation of a more kicking game from Ireland as his reason for selecting three players who can play at full back in his outside three.
As expected, Percy Montgomery, the Boks' second-highest points scorer of all time, is recalled at the expense of Gaffie du Toit, who drops to the bench. Promoted from there is Jaque Fourie, at the expense of Henno Mentz, who loses out altogether.
"Both players were original first-choices and as they're now fully fit they deserve to get their chance," explained White, who expressed his desire to develop an interchangeable back three à la the All Blacks and the Wallabies. "All three of the outside backs . . . can play at full back. I expect Ireland to come at us with everything they have got and I expect Ireland to kick more. Wet weather is forecast and that is another reason for having a back three who can all play full back."
SOUTH AFRICA: P Montgomery (Newport Gwent Dragons); B Paulse (Stormers), M Joubert (Stormers), W Julies (Cats), J Fourie (Cats); J van der Westhuyzen (Leicester), F du Preez (Bulls); Os du Randt (Cats), J Smit (Sharks, capt), E Andrews (Stormers), B Botha (Bulls), V Matfield (Bulls), S Burger (Stormers), P Wannenburg (Bulls), J Cronje (Bulls). Replacements: H Shimange (Cats), CJ van der Linde (Cats), Q Davids (Stormers), G Britz (Cats), J Conradie (Stormers), G du Toit (Stormers), B Russell (Sharks).
IRELAND: G Dempsey (Leinster); G Murphy (Leicester), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, Capt), S Horgan (Leinster), T Howe (Ulster); R O'Gara (Munster), P Stringer (Munster); R Corrigan (Leinster), S Byrne (Leinster), J Hayes (Munster), M O'Kelly (Leinster), P O'Connell (Munster), S Easterby (Llanelli), D Wallace (Munster), A Foley (Munster). Replacements: F Sheahan (Munster), M Horan (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), A Quinlan (Munster), G Easterby (Rotherham), D Humphreys (Ulster), K Maggs (Bath).
