RUGBY:IRELAND APPEAR set to go with an unchanged starting line-up and replacements for their next RBS Six Nations assignment against Wales in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday when they formally announce their side today.

Leo Cullen, the only casualty of the weekend, and Tomás O’Leary, sidelined for the Scottish game, trained yesterday, with Cullen set to resume his place on the bench, but Eoin Reddan is likely to retain his place.

O’Leary has been troubled with a back strain ever since Ireland’s opening win over Italy in Rome, which has greatly curtailed his ability to even train since then. Although he was given until the last minute to prove his fitness against France, he was then ruled out several days before the Murrayfield game.

The scrumhalf came through “a good 40-minute session” yesterday, according to forwards’ coach Gert Smal, but though O’Leary is still most likely earmarked as the first-choice scrum-half come the World Cup, not least against the Australian backrow, perhaps the management are of the view that there’s no need to put additional pressure on him this week.

Jonny Sexton and Andrew Trimble may be a tad disappointed, but O’Gara could hardly be omitted after his superb, man-of-the-match display in Murrayfield, while Keith Earls had his best game of the championship in Edinburgh.

Retaining Denis Leamy and Paddy Wallace on the bench may be criticised in some quarters, but Leamy has played 130 games for Munster and 48 games for Ireland across the backrow, while the equally experienced and versatile Wallace is the only back covering fullback, as well as providing cover at 12 and, at a push, outhalf and goal-kicking.

On some of the forward details Smal, interestingly, admitted of the Irish lineout: “I’m not saying it’s fine; I wouldn’t be satisfied until we get to a 95 per cent-plus success rate. We are continuously working on all aspects of lineout play.”

The lack of variety can in part be attributed to the absence of a traditional backrow option a la Simon Easterby or Alan Quinlan, as well as a lineout shorn of its human forklift for the past decade, John Hayes, and Smal alluded to the former when commenting: “When you select sides, you look at a couple of factors: your lineout is not the whole part of the game.

“There are a lot of players we could select who are the best lineout forwards in Ireland, but you have to ask questions: is that the best selection for the team? You look at the defence, you look at lineouts, you look at scrums, you look at a lot of factors. It’s not just an isolated thing you look at. I’m not satisfied, but we’ll keep working on it. I must say today we had a very good session. I was very happy with it.”

As for the breakdown, another area very much under his remit, Smal said: “If you look at the penalties, we are not satisfied with that. There was a perception that since they changed the law in the last campaign, we haven’t progressed from that. Not at all. We definitely have changed the ways to suit our team.”

Smal highlighted the team’s need to trust a defensive system that has conceded only two tries, and be more accurate at the breakdown. “I was looking at Jonathan Kaplan (Saturday’s referee) at the weekend. Because I’m from the south I look at a lot of games at the weekend, including Super rugby. A lot of those teams also struggle with not releasing, but it’s not a reason for us to do that. We must try to be as accurate as we can.”

The resident fullback, Luke Fitzgerald, maintained yesterday he was “really happy” with how he is progressing, and was becoming more comfortable in the position.

“Positioning has never been an issue for me, I think. There have probably been a few occasions where accuracy in the air needs to be improved. There are probably one or two in a game I should be getting. That is something I’m putting a big focus on in training myself. I’m putting in the time to get better at that.”

Fitzgerald has clearly been targeted more in the air with each passing game. “It’s not an area that I feel is weak in my game; it’s an area where I feel there are one or two things I’m not doing. It’s in certain situations where the ball is coming short and there are guys competing in the air with you.

“It’s very difficult because guys are putting up hands and you’re looking to get a clean catch. You’re never going to be in as high a position as them. That’s the one area that needs to be improved. Other than that, I feel very comfortable in the position. I feel I’m doing the right things. It’s just a matter of getting more touches of the ball.

“In attack I feel a lot more comfortable in myself; getting back from injury in the initial stages of the competition, I hadn’t had much rugby. I feel stronger and more dangerous every time I get the ball.”

Akin to last November, when Ireland struggled to regain any momentum after the poor first half against South Africa, the failure to press home their advantage against Italy has left the team frustratingly close but short of their best ever since.

In a familiar refrain, Fitzgerald said: “In terms of playing, we’re on the cusp. In attack, we’ve looked very, very dangerous. We’ve scored a lot of tries in the competition. I think we’ll continue to do so. There are one or two areas where we’re looking to be a bit more accurate: hold on to the ball longer and be a little bit more patient. We look very dangerous.”