THE Irish Development squad take a step into the unknown next Thursday - as much for themselves as against Northland - when a decidedly raw, experimental looking team plays the pivotal match of this seven-game tour. The team contains six uncapped players and of the rest only two have won more than eight caps.

In essence then, this opening selection is true to the management's word that there will not be first and midweek teams, as such. "That's not going to develop at any stage. While winning is important and it's much easier to judge fellas in a winning environment, at the same time it's not the critical factor.

"We want to see how each guy can perform in the type of game we will try to play and how they adapt with the necessary skills, because we're going to play a possession-orientated game," explained the squad's manager Pat Whelan, somewhat hopefully. "If we kick the ball away we'll never get it back again.

To that end, Thursday's line-up features two open side flankers, Eddie Halvey and the team's baby, 20-year-old David Wallace. They will operate on the left and right of an all-Munster back-row either side of Anthony Foley. "We reckon that with the type of game we're going to play that they will get to the breakdown quicker. We'll see what way it turns out in this match," added Whelan.

There remains a doubt about the team's most experienced player, the 19-times capped second-row Gabriel Fulcher, who strained his ankle ligaments in an accidental collision with Malcolm O'Kelly in Sunday's training session. "We reckon he'll be fit," said Whelan, on the basis of Fulcher having 48 hours rest and physiotherapy, although the London Irish second-row does have a worrying history of ankle injuries.