Ireland v England team news: Paddy Wallace has been named at inside centre for Ireland, meaning Gordon D'Arcy will again have to content himself with a cameo role when an unchanged Ireland side meet England at Croke Park this weekend.
And hooker Jerry Flannery has held off the challenge of Rory Best with coach Declan Kidney keeping faith with the starting XV that took to the field in the wins over France and Italy.
Wallace was forced out of the action with head injuries in both those matches with D’Arcy’s impact from the bench giving Kidney serious food for thought. But the former Munster coach has opted against change at this juncture.
“We went through the whole team selection,” he explained at today’s team announcement. “The team are training so well and we took that into account. The lads who came on as subs in the first two matches have put their hands up, as have the guys on Magners League duty at the weekend.”
The only change to the matchday squad sees Munster lock Mick O’Driscoll come in for Malclom O’Kelly. O’Kelly, Ireland’s record caps holder, was a surprising omission from an extended 36-man squad panel on Sunday but Kidney insists the door remains open for the Leinster veteran.
“Second row is probably one of the most sought-after positions in the set-up,” he added. “Mick had been going well prior to getting the shoulder injury and he played very well in the Magners League on the weekend, so I felt he deserved his chance.
“I’m sure Malcolm will force his way back into the side.”
Kidney added: "There are lots of guys I’d love to play, good players who aren’t getting a chance to play. That’s the making of a good side.
"The players in the side know that if there’s any relaxation at all there are guys ready to take their place.
“In terms of developing the squad work has been done on that behind the scenes. Talk about competition for places is not just lip service.
“Pressure is being applied from beneath and if you’re worried about your place in the team then it spurs you on to play better."
England are not expected to derail Irish ambitions of securing a second Grand Slam but Martin Johnson’s side showed enough against Wales 10 days ago to suggest they will not raise the white flag at Croke Park.
“England’s performance in the last match against the Welsh was well up on the week before,” said Kidney. “I suppose that the other thing that concerns me is the quality of the people in the background.
“I’ve worked with Mike Ford before and my respect for Martin Johnson is huge.
“What’s also important is that they’ve had two free weeks in the run-up to this match.
“If they made that much of an improvement in one week in between Italy and Wales, who knows what kind of improvements they’ve made in the past fortnight?
“That two-week preparation is a new thing for England because before they might have been playing Guinness Premiership matches in between.
“You can’t overstate the importance of that to any team - getting proper preparation time in between matches.”
Ireland have a tremendous recent record against England, winning four of their last five meetings since losing the Grand Slam decider in 2003.
The last of those victories two years ago was one of the great moments in Irish sport as England were humbled 43-13 in their first visit to Croke Park.
“England is always a big one. We always look forward to having them over,” said captain Brian O’Driscoll. “More often than not they’re one of the strongest teams in the world so you enjoy taking those teams on as often as possible.
“The country always sits up and watches you play England regardless of the sport so it’s an occasion to be enjoyed and looked forward to.”
Ireland(v England): R Kearney (Leinster); T Bowe (Ospreys), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, captain), P Wallace (Ulster), L Fitzgerald (Leinster); R O'Gara (Munster), T O'Leary (Munster); M Horan (Munster), J Flannery (Munster), J Hayes (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), P O'Connell (Munster), S Ferris (Ulster), D Wallace (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster). Replacements: R Best (Ulster), T Court (Ulster), M O'Driscoll (Munster), D Leamy (Munster), P Stringer (Munster), G D'Arcy (Leinster), G Murphy (Leicester).
