O’Sullivan Sticks With the Old

By Cathal Dervan

And it’s very much as you were for Ireland ahead of the game, with reserve scrum-half Isaac Boss the only absentee from the side that destroyed England at Croke Park.

O’Sullivan has kept faith with the side that started the record breaking win against England, with Boss’s place on the bench taken by Wasps star Eoin Reddan.

Geordan Murphy, who watched the England game in a bar in the Latvian capital of Riga, is again left out in the cold.

“Naming the same team was one of my more easy selections,” O’Sullivan told BBC Sport.

“The only change is on the bench and that was enforced. Isaac has bruised his AC joint and it will take at least a week to heal. We’ll have a look again early next week but I wouldn’t be over optimistic about his chances for Italy. It will be tight.

“Eoin Reddan has been ever-present in the squad for the last year and he steps in. It’s good to have him to call on. He’s a very good passer of the ball and a very smart footballer who reads the game very well.

“The move to Wasps has done him a lot of good because he’s now playing in an environment where he has to make decisions all the time.”

O’Sullivan says he’s taking nothing for granted, though he’s confident of success.

“Some people would rate the Triple Crown now as being about as useful as throwing daisies at a bull, but not us,” insisted coach O’Sullivan ahead of the penultimate game of the Six Nations campaign.

“There is a very big carrot out there for us now. Another Triple Crown would be three in four years if we can do it and it would be great. I know familiarity breeds contempt, and some people would take another Triple Crown now like throwing daisies to a bull, but for us it is still a big event.

“With two games left I want to finish out the Six Nations with two good wins and see what happens because that is all we can do, that is all we can control so we will not be complacent going there next Saturday.

“I think the public will be. Someone told me they are eight to one on to win it which in a two horse race like a game of rugby is madness. It is madness but I think the players are always a good barometer and they won’t fall into that trap.”

The Triple Crown is the immediate goal for O’Sullivan, but the Irish coach isn’t giving up on the Six Nations championship just yet.

To achieve that target, injury hit England will need to do their Croke Park conquerors a mighty favor against the table-topping French at Twickenham on Sunday, not all that impossible a task according to some in the know.

“England will be a wounded animal in their own right when they play the French and that will be a danger for the French,” stressed O’Sullivan.

“Because it is at Twickenham they will want to bounce back and they have no choice really, they have to bounce back. England are hurt right now, they were very disappointed at the weekend and the Six Nations, as youknow, is a funny thing.

“On their day any team can beat any other side in this competition and England will be looking to bounce back themselves next weekend, which might just do us a favor.”

Whatever about England’s future prospects and their impact on Ireland’s season, O’Sullivan has found no shortage of volunteers to talk about their most recent problems in the days AC After Croker!

“Everyone you meet this week has the England game on the tip of their tongue and that has been great,” claimed the Corkonian.

“During the build-up to the game it was all very intense but we just focused on the game itself and shut out all the external stuff about Croke Park, history and anthems.

“It was only after the game that it began to sink in with people about the magnitude of the day, the whole event and how big it was. We all knew it was a big event but we didn’t realize how big it was. It is only now that we realize how big it was.”

Ireland: G. Dempsey; S. Horgan, B. O’Driscoll, G. D’Arcy, D. Hickie; R. O’Gara, P. Stringer; M. Horan, R. Best, J. Hayes, D. O’Callaghan, P. O’Connell, S. Easterby, D. Wallace, D. Leamy. Replacements: J. Flannery, S. Best, M. O’Driscoll, N. Best, E. Reddan, P. Wallace, A. Trimble.

Cautious Prodigy

TEENAGE prodigy Joe Canning has insisted that he will make himself available to the Galway senior hurling panel once the time is right.

“I want to be able to play senior hurling with Galway for many years, but there is a real danger of suffering burnout if I begin now,” Canning explained.

“Also there is a life outside hurling and I want to enjoy it while I can. You can be totally consumed by the game once you start playing and, while I have great passion for hurling and want to play senior with Galway some day, I want to take it one step at a time.

“If I can stay injury free, I want to play senior hurling with Galway for 10 years and that could take me into my late twenties. If I join up now, it could mean three or four years off my career at the end.

“People must realize that I miss out playing minor this year by just two months. I want to live a teenager’s life also. I’ve been on the go with the Galway minors for the last three years and when you add in the club scene, it’s been non-stop action all the way.”

Clare Problems

THE Clare County Board have asked accountant Martin Lynch to act as a mediator in the row between former all-star goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald and county boss Tony Considine.

Fitzgerald was missing again as Clare lost to Wexford in the league in Ennis on Sunday after a dispute with Considine over training methods.

Considine refused to discuss the Fitzgerald issue after the Wexford defeat. “We have drawn a line in the sand on this issue and I just want everyone to let us get on with the hurling,” he said.

Wexford boss John Meyler admitted the fare on offer in Ennis was poor afterwards but took heart from the win. “It was like watching paint dry at times but it was more than just two points for us, it was a great moral victory and will give us great encouragement,” said Meyler. “We’ll go back training this week in preparation for Offaly in two weeks’ time with a real spring in our step.”

Minister’s Plea

IRISH Minister for Sport John O’Donoghue has called on the GAA to leave Croke Park open to soccer and rugby into 2009 after the association approved plans to stage international fixtures there in 2008 as Lansdowne Road is rebuilt.

“We’ve always said that the construction period at Lansdowne would be in the order of 29 months,” said O’Donoghue. “That timeframe means that the requirement of the IRFU and the FAI to use Croke Park would go beyond 2008 and into 2009.

“In those circumstances I would hope that the GAA would pass another resolution at Congress to make Croke Park available to the IRFU and the FAI for their home internationals during the remaining period of the construction of Lansdowne Road.

“If we get planning permission in the middle of March, there’s no reason why can’t tear it down and start the construction of the stadium.”

Protect Unders

CROKE Park official Paraic Duffy has called for the end to the All-Ireland under-21 football championship in a bid to protect youngsters from burn-out. Duffy said, “We’re placing far too many demands on our young players.

“Getting rid of the All-Ireland inter-county Under 21 championships certainly in football would be a big help, as would a restriction on who can play in certain third level competitions. We’ve simply got to draw the line somewhere.

“Best sports science says that players need a rest at the end of a season and that they also need a proper pre-season. However because of the structures we have in the GAA they’re getting neither, which is leading to more injuries and drop out.”

GAA Shorts

TYRONE legend Brian McGuigan expects to make his inter-county comeback against Kerry on the last Sunday in March as he continues his comeback from a double leg break . . .

CORK legend Sean Og O hAilpin has confirmed that he will quit senior inter-county hurling in 2010. “I’m gearing myself now towards my last three years and I want to finish with a bang before I go on to the next chapter in my life,” said O hAilpin. “I want to make those last years as good as possible. I don’t want to finish up in three years time beaten in the first round.” . . .

LONGFORD have lodged an objection with Croke Park following Offaly’s decision to play Ken Casey in the recent National Football League clash, which ended in a draw after Casey had been sent off in a Leinster under-21 championship game . . .

CARLOW midfielder Thomas Walsh’s transfer to Wicklow side Bray Emmets must be re-submitted after an error was spotted on the original application . . .

TIPPERARY defender Diarmuid Fitzgerald has been ruled out for the remainder of the NHL campaign with a serious knee injury . . .

A TOTAL of 64 students drawn from 25 counties and 21 third level colleges received *1,000 each as part of the Gaelic Player’s Association scheme . . .

MAYO midfielder Ronan McGarrity has been forced to take a break from the game after doctors confirmed that the talented Gaelic footballer and basketball star is suffering from testicular cancer. McGarrity has withdrawn from John O’Mahony’s squad for the time being but is expected to make a full recovery after treatment.