Ireland face tour Down Under without BOD

Ireland's southern hemisphere tour squad will be reinforced by the arrival of their Heineken Cup-winning Munster contingent, but they could head to New Zealand later this week without their captain Brian O'Driscoll.

Ireland's southern hemisphere tour squad will be reinforced by the arrival of their Heineken Cup-winning Munster contingent, but they could head to New Zealand later this week without their captain Brian O'Driscoll.

O'Driscoll missed the 39-14 victory over the Barbarians at Kingsholm on Tuesday evening and returned to Dublin following the death of a close friend.

The squad leave for Wellington on Friday evening, ahead of Tests against the All Blacks on June 7 and Australia in Melbourne seven days later.

Asked if he knew when the outside centre might rejoin the squad, Ireland caretaker coach Michael Bradley said it was unlikely.

“No, not at the moment. It is a private matter,” said Bradley.

There is no suggestion that O'Driscoll will miss the tour, although it is possible he will fly out at a later date than the rest of the squad.

Ireland overcame O'Driscoll's absence to record an emphatic 39-14 warm-up victory over the Barbarians, scoring tries through stand-in skipper Shane Horgan (two), number eight Jamie Heaslip (two) and wing Tommy Bowe.

Fly-half Paddy Wallace chipped in with 14 points, while the Barbarians were restricted to converted touchdowns by loose forwards Craig Newby and Pedrie Wannenburg.

“It was a good result and a good performance. We are very happy with the way the lads played,” added Bradley.

“We set out our stall in terms of defence and a couple of related objectives, and we had worked on our phase play as well.

“I thought all 22 players did well. There were some very good players in that Barbarians side.

“The point was made at half-time about going out and finishing the job, which is what we did.”

Horgan reflected on a “very proud day” after leading from the front with two tries after stepping into O'Driscoll's captaincy role.

“I enjoyed the captaincy,” he said. “It was a very proud day for me, and it meant as much to me as it would have done if it had been for a full Test match.

“It is like anything in any rugby team, the energy and enthusiasm of the squad is generated from winning games.

“When players get their hands on the ball, you get confidence.”

The Barbarians now move on to Twickenham and next Sunday's clash with England, although they are likely to be without Newby.

The Leicester-bound Otago forward was stretchered off and taken to hospital, where he underwent X-rays on his neck.