Eddie O’Sullivan has left both second row positions vacant in an otherwise unchanged team to face Scotland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.
The coach is awaiting a fitness report on Paul O’Connell before finalising the make-up of his starting XV on Thursday for the crucial clash with the rejuvenated Scots.
O’Connell missed the win over Wales a fortnight ago having damaged his shoulder against France and is again a doubtful starter despite having trained this morning and yesterday.
"We’re not sure about Paul and want to defer that decision until Thursday morning," O’Sullivan said. "I don’t know what the chances of him playing are.
"We really thought he would make the Wales game but we found out on the Tuesday he wouldn’t play. At the moment he’s 50-50 and we need 48 hours more to decide.
"There’s no point making the decision now," the coach continued. "Paul trained today but we have to be careful with how much work he does. It’s an AC shoulder problem which has been slow healing."
O’Connell’s Munster colleague, Donncha O’Callaghan, partnered Malcolm O’Kelly against Wales and would be expected to do so again should O’Connell cruelly miss out on another crucial game.
Otherwise, there are no changes to the side which hammered Wales 31-5 in Dublin. Prop John Hayes has recovered from the viral infection which hospitalised him for a night.
Simon Easterby and Eoin Reddan, both of whom sat out yesterday’s session with dead legs, are, as expected, fit enough to take their place in the back row and on the bench respectively.
Brian O’Driscoll will captain the team for the 26th time.
Nathan Hines and Scott Murray return to the Scottish team. Murray was suspended for the Calcutta Cup win over England last month while Hines was a second half substitute.
The pair take over from Scott MacLeod and Alastair Kellock in the second row in the only changes to the team.
Glasgow Warriors hooker Scott Lawson will be on the bench in the absence of the injured Ross Ford, who sustained medial ligament damage at the weekend while playing for Border Reivers.
Ireland could face a potential title decider against England on St Patrick’s weekend should they beat Scotland.
Ireland: G Murphy (Leicester); S Horgan (Leinster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, captain), G D'Arcy (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster); R O'Gara (Munster), P Stringer (Munster); M Horan (Munster), J Flannery (Munster), J Hayes (Munster), M O'Kelly (Leinster)/P O'Connell (Munster)/D O'Callaghan (Munster)/M O'Driscoll (Munster), S Easterby (Llanelli), D Wallace (Munster), D Leamy (Munster). Substitutes: R Best (Ulster), S Best (Ulster), M O'Kelly (Leinster)/P O'Connell (Munster)/D O'Callaghan (Munster)/M O'Driscoll (Munster), J O'Connor (Wasps), E Reddan (Wasps), D Humphreys (Ulster), G Dempsey (Leinster).
Scotland: H Southwell (Edinburgh Gunners); C Paterson (Edinburgh Gunners), M Di Rollo (Edinburgh Gunners), A Henderson (Glasgow Warriors), S Lamont (Northampton Saints); D Parks (Glasgow Warriors), M Blair (Edinburgh Gunners); G Kerr (Leeds Tykes), D Hall (Edinburgh Gunners), B Douglas (Border Reivers), N Hines (Perpignan), S Murray (Edinburgh Gunners), J White (Sale Sharks, captain), S Taylor (Edinburgh Gunners), A Hogg (Edinburgh Gunners). Substitutes: S Lawson (Glasgow Warriors), C Smith (Edinburgh Gunners), A Kellock (Edinburgh Gunners), J Petrie (Glasgow Warriors), C Cusiter (Border Reivers), G Ross (Leeds Tykes), S Webster (Edinburgh Gunners).
