RUGBY: Keith Wood returns to the Ireland squad as his deputy as captain, Mick Galwey, is left out of the preparations for the Six Nations match against Italy. Gerry Thornley reports.
If nothing else Mick Galwey will surely be guaranteed one record when he finally rides off into the sunset after being dropped for a remarkable 15th time in his 41-cap test career yesterday. After all, who else has been recalled 14 times? Given that formguide, you'd write off the ol' warhorse at your peril but time waits for no man and his fellow Munster replacement, Paul O'Connell, is now the present as well as the future of the Irish second row.
The omission of the 35-year-old, who has captained Ireland in their three Six Nations games to date, is undoubtedly the biggest call which Eddie O'Sullivan and his management team had to make (and on a personal as well as professional level, it must have been particularly difficult for Declan Kidney and Niall O'Donovan).
As expected, Tyrone Howe has also been recalled, which strongly intimates that he will start on the wing with Shane Horgan moving inside to resume his Leinster midfield partnership with Brian O'Driscoll, while the management have named Keith Wood as one of three hookers in an expanded 23-man squad pending his comeback game for Harlequins away to Sale tomorrow.
Wood expects to start and is hopeful of lasting the 80 minutes, though O'Sullivan confirmed that a full outing would be Wood's minimum requirement if he is to make the cut for the Italian game next week after three months' absence with a torn calf.
"He would have to play a full match, otherwise it (Wood's international recall) would be out of the equation," revealed O'Sullivan, "and even if he did play the full 80 minutes for Harelquins there would be a long and frank discussion about whether we would risk him against Italy. Test rugby is test rugby. He's aware of that and very much on board with our thinking."
The likelihood, therefore, is that Wood may not come back into the fold until a potential championship decider in the finale away to France a fortnight from Saturday, which could temporarily leave the captaincy between Anthony Foley and David Humphreys (who will set a new Irish record with his first score against Italy after equalling Michael Kiernan's 309-point landmark against Scotland) after the management bit the bullet with regard to Galwey.
"It doesn't get any easier," admits Galwey, who has learnt of previous omissions via radio, word-of-mouth, TV, teletext and pretty much the whole gamut.
"It's disappointing to be left out after being captain of a winning team but that's the way the cookie crumbles. In fairness to the management, they let me know where I stand. There were times in the past when I felt I could have done a better job than the player who I was replaced with but I know I'm not going to last for ever and I don't have any problem about Paul O'Connell being picked. He's the future of Irish rugby, and if there is a consolation that's it," said Galwey.
Galwey had been spoken to privately by O'Sullivan yesterday on the last day of the squad's four-day get-together in Belfast. "That was obviously a big decision, a difficult decision and a tough one to make," admitted the Irish coach.
"We have four locks in the squad now and after a lot of talk and weighing things up we've gone for an up-and-coming lock. We explained the decision to Mick well before the announcement and to his credit, while he was disappointed, typical of the man he accepted we were picking a young man who he thinks is a fine player.
"Paul made a big impression in his debut against Wales and we now have three possible combinations," added O'Sullivan. "As Paul can jump at two or four, and Mal (O'Kelly) at four and Gary (Longwell) at two, that gives us more flexibility."
The anticipated naming of Horgan at inside centre and Howe on the wing is "not a done deal" according to O'Sullivan, who said they could consider playing John Kelly in midfield, but it looks the likeliest option all the same in the absence of Kevin Maggs and Rob Henderson. With 62 caps between them, "not many countries could take such a hit, especially if you add in (the injured) Jonathan Bell," commented O'Sullivan.
Seven of the squad have been made available for their clubs in tomorrow's penultimate round of AIB League games, namely Shane Byrne (Blackrock College), John Hayes (Shannon), John Kelly (Cork Constitution), Gary Longwell (Ballymena), Eric Miller (Terenure College), Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution) and Frank Sheahan (Cork Constitution).
The ripple effect of Howe's promotion to the Test squad sees Anthony Horgan and Justin Bishop called into the A squad which is seeking to augment its Triple Crown success by beating the Italians at Donnybrook on Friday evening to set up a tilt at a grand slam in France a fortnight later.
Sheldon Coulter drops out, as does Ben Willis to accommodate the return of fit-again Brian O'Meara, while Paul Shields' injury leaves a vacancy at hooker. Were Wood included in the Test squad, either Frankie Sheahan or Shane Byrne might fill the void, or alternatively John Fogarty could be in line for a call-up.
Matt Williams will still be in charge of the A squad although by then Leinster may have a clearer indication as to whether the former New South Wales Waratahs coach will be remaining with the inaugural Celtic League champions or moving on elsewhere when his contract expires this summer, most probably Saracens.
The IRFU chief executive Philip Browne yesterday confirmed that "we have been having further negotiations with Matt and his advisors this week, as has been he case for some time, but these things take time and there is unlikely to be any major development this week."
