RUGBY:So much has changed in Irish rugby in the intervening years since RWC 1995, writes LIAM TOLAND

SO, TWO great teams were finally unveiled this week and both are heavily dominated by Irish. The first, with 14 Irish, has 37 players, two more than expected, and the second a slimmer version reduced from 20 to 15. I wonder do Paul O’Connell and Brian Cowen have anything else in common as leaders of these respective groups?

Of course both have toured in South Africa. Cowen’s rugby tour was with the Irish Parliamentary Rugby team which coincided with the RWC 1995. O’Connell’s was nine years later in 2004. Both had varying degrees of success and both are big men, albeit with slightly different heights.

So much has changed in Irish rugby in the intervening years since RWC 1995. But this change has accelerated since RWC 2007. Back then, Eddie O’Sullivan was favourite to be crowned Lions head coach. Back then, six Irish players selected for this Lions tour didn’t make RWC 2007 in France.

It’s extraordinary that from the ashes of that ill-fated tournament, 14 Irish players will travel to South Africa. And way back then Alan Quinlan, at 33, was holding tackle bags.

Quinlan made the cut, but unfortunately John Hayes will not be providing the Lions with a real lift. I felt that his relationship with the O’Connell was critical to challenging Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield.

But as captain I’m sure O’Connell would have yearned for his old war horse. O’Connell will be carrying an awful lot of responsibility throughout the gruelling, 10-match tour. He’ll have to gel the group, lead them into the face of a rugby-mad public while having to dominate two of the best secondrows in the world.

Not to mention the ever-increasing distraction of PR. Coming to terms with all of that in a few short weeks is a tough task, even for the great Paul O’Connell. He could have done with Hayes to lift him when he needed it most.

Being captain to the Lions with 13 Irish colleagues carries with it huge responsibility, especially when world champions South Africa will claim superiority in every department. O’Connell and Ian McGeechan will have to be clever to negotiate the battles ahead.

McGeechan has displayed an uncanny cuteness over the years, but selecting on-form could be his master stroke. It’s extraordinary to think how much influence the Munster-Ospreys Heineken Cup semi-final match has had on the Lions squad. How close was Keith Earls and Quinlan pre kick-off? How close was Ryan Jones?

With so much at stake before the plane takes off for South Africa, it’s hard not to be giddy with what’s to come. The 37-man squad has an obvious blend between the ladies in the back line, young, skilful and very, very fast, and the mongrels up front.

There is a real sense of dog about the potential Test pack.

Simon Shaw and Nathan Hines bring real menace to proceedings. On March 13th, I noted that, with Shaw returning to the engine room for England, France would fall that weekend. After losing to Wales and Ireland, England went on to hammer France in Twickenham 34-10.

It was obvious Shaw brought an edge to the fixture that will be required in South Africa. When he travelled to South Africa on the 1997 Lions tour he was 24 years of age and 22st. He has aged a little and he’s trimmed a tad to 18½st.

It remains to be seen whether Hines or Shaw will make the Test side, but it’ll make for very interesting training. Can you imagine Joe Worsley, Andy Powell, Stephen Ferris, Shaw, Hines and Quinlan all having a disagreement?

That level of aggressive competition will ultimately provide the Test 15 with the ideal preparation for the real thing.

Over the years Kilkenny and Munster have dominated their respective codes. Obviously both sides are packed with talents which are constantly competing for places, but I believe the strongest fixture any “Test” side can play is the one behind closed doors among the group. Every training session needs to be brutal.

The tone set by the “second-string” team is paramount. Every player must feel they have a chance to start, and train accordingly, hence the inclusion of so many dogs in the pack.

It’s hard to see the balance of the team carrying too many of them come the opening Test in Durban, but the training sessions will be fierce, which will fire the ultimate starting 15 to the level they need.

It’s hard to credit that so many of the backs have hit the pinnacle of their career so young. To think that Luke Fitzgerald and Keith Earls stand real chances of Test places in a touring party which carries a fellow tourist in Quinlan who would have marked Keith’s father, Ger, on countless occasions as Shannon battled against Young Munster. What a hilarious faux pas by Joe Duffy Liveline stand-in Damien O’Reilly during his interview with Ger Earls during the week, when he linked the openside with Garryowen!

Finally, with only eight days to go, the blue of Leinster in Limerick is growing ever so slightly. They’re coming out of the woodwork after the owner of the lonely Leinster flag ventured in during the week to tell her story. Strangely, a Munster flag was unfurled during the week from the apartment below in the first major standoff of the fixture.

Others, too, have been in touch. Kildare man Eamon Heavey, studying out in UL, has had his flag flying for some time, under threats of tarring and feathering from his Munster college mates.

Maybe the Leinster hierarchy who have demanded loyalty in Croke Park should come down south and reward those brave followers with freedom of their city – and, of course, VIP tickets for the game.