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Ruggers warm up for Cup with triumph over Scots

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

The winners? Donnacha O’Callaghan in the second row, Munster wing Anthony Horgan, center Jonny Bell, Neil Doak as the third scrum-half and prop Simon Best. And the losers? Undoubtedly former Lion David Wallace, who still failed to make the cut despite the fact that a total of five wing forwards were selected, second row Leo Cullen and center Mike Mullins.
Elsewhere, there was personal disaster for the multitalented Geordan Murphy, who broke his leg in the final warmup game against Scotland in Edinburgh last Sunday, and for Rob Henderson, whose injured arm ruled him out of contention.
The outcome was particularly frustrating for Murphy, who was widely expected to make a major impact during next month’s tournament in Australia. The fullback, who can also play with equal effect on the wing, suffered a compound fracture of the left leg in Ireland’s 29-10 victory over the Scots Saturday at Murrayfield. Not alone has Murphy’s unavailability deprived the squad of one its few world-class players, he is especially important as he takes some of the attacking pressure off Brian O’Driscoll.
As for Wallace, it seemed inconceivable a year ago that he wouldn’t be one of the vital players at the 2003 finals. However, following a shoulder injury that forced him to miss all of last season, and an unconvincing summer tour of Australia, Tonga and Samoa, he has been controversially passed over.
“The back row was always going to be incredibly, incredibly competitive,” O’Sullivan said. “Unfortunately, someone had to lose out. The sad part about it is that if David’s name was in there, somebody’s else’s wouldn’t be.”
With Wallace left out, there was joy and relief for Simon Easterby, Alan Quinlan and, to a lesser extent, Eric Miller, whose impressive recent form looked to have secured him a place. The backup second-row spots were being fought out between Gary Longwell, O’Callaghan and Cullen, and with just two to travel to Australia, Cullen missed out once again following his omission from last season’s Grand Slam game against England.
In Henderson and Murphy’s absence, Bell becomes only the fourth Irish player to be selected for three World Cup finals. Neil Francis, Brendan Mullin and the current captain, Keith Wood, are the other three. Meanwhile, scrum-half Doak is the only uncapped player in the squad, which has already left for a week’s warm weather training in Bilbao, Spain.
O’Sullivan chose to go with 13 backs and 17 forwards for the tournament, which gets under way for the Irish on Oct. 11 with a pool game against Romania. Aiming to be one of two countries to qualify for the quarterfinals from a pool that includes holders Australia, Argentina, Namibia and Romania, the pivotal game will almost certainly be against Argentina, who eliminated Ireland from the last World Cup, in 1999.
If the Irish make it to the last eight along with Australia, then their most likely opponents will be France. “We can now focus more on the tournament, but just getting into the squad mustn’t be the top of the mountain,” O’Sullivan said. “This is base camp.”
John Hayes, Shane Horgan and John Kelly didn’t travel to Spain with the rest of the squad due to injuries.
While Murphy’s broken leg cast a shadow over the game against the Scots, Ireland still managed to run out comprehensive winners by four tries to one. Kevin Maggs, Denis Hickie, Wallace and Anthony Horgan scored the tries, with Ronan O’Gara kicking a penalty and two conversion
In another significant development, Frankie Sheahan’s two-year ban for a doping offense was reduced to three months and a

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