Stringer to start for Ireland
Interim Ireland coach Michael Bradley has made two changes to the starting line-up for the one-off Test against Australia at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne on Saturday.
Interim Ireland coach Michael Bradley has made two changes to the starting line-up for the one-off Test against Australia at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne on Saturday.
Veteran scrum-half Peter Stringer has been rewarded for a strong second-half performance against New Zealand at the weekend and will start, while hooker Rory Best has been promoted to the XV.
Eoin Reddan and Jerry Flannery have been relegated to the bench, while Alan Quinlan and Luke Fitzgerald were not considered for the clash due to injury.
No other changes have been made to the starting XV from the side that lost 21-11 to the All Blacks, with Robert Kearney remaining at full-back and Paddy Wallace at inside centre.
Prop John Hayes and lock Donnacha O'Callaghan did not train with the rest of the squad this morning, but the duo are expected to line up against the Wallabies.
Bradley said the promotion of Stringer and Best was warranted and feels he has selected the best side possible to defeat the Wallabies.
“We went through every position and weighed up the pros and cons of the lads who are in the starting team and those that haven't participated in a game,” said Bradley.
“Rory deserves a chance at the Test starting spot and Peter showed what he can do in the period of time against New Zealand.”
Saturday's match will be the first game in charge for new Wallabies coach Robbie Deans and Bradley is expecting Australia to be an extremely difficult opposition.
“A new coach brings a fresh look so you would think there would be a new look to the Australian side,” said Bradley.
“I am extremely wary of Australia when they get into their stride, so it's going to be a very difficult challenge for us this weekend.”
With the Telstra Dome roof set to be closed for Saturday's match, Bradley is predicting a free-flowing game with plenty of tries.
And despite the fact that his players are coming to the end of their season, Bradley is not expecting fatigue to be a factor in the final stages of the match.
“Bearing in mind that it is the end of the season, we have curtailed the training for the last couple of weeks,” said Bradley.
“But we are quite confident that fatigue won't play a part in the match on Saturday.
“Training sessions have been reasonably short and we have been checking for response from the lads on a daily basis as to how they are feeling. They are feeling as fresh as we think we can have them at this part of the season.”
Ireland: 15 Robert Kearney, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Shane Jennings, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Geordan Murphy, 22 Girvan Dempsey.
Date: Saturday, June 14
Venue: Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Kick-off: 20:05 (11:05 BST)
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
Touch judges: Chris White (England), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Television match official: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
Assessor: Andrew Cole (Australia)