O’Gara Back for Scottish Game

Ronan O’Gara will return to international action next weekend after being named in the 22 player squad for the game against Scotland next weekend.

Ronan O’Gara will return to international action next weekend after being named in the 22 player squad for the game against Scotland next weekend.

O’Gara hasn’t played since returning from the summer tour to the southern hemisphere where he picked up a wrist injury playing in the second last game of the tour against Tonga. Inexplicibly, O’Gara was selected for the next game against Samoa and played with a heavily bandaged arm, with a later diagnosis showing that he had in fact a broken bone which necessitated surgery to correct.

His Munster colleague John Kelly was not considered after damaging a rib cartilage in the game against Italy. The player himself is hopeful that he will be able to resume training in 2-3 weks time, by which time he will already have been named in Eddie O’Sullivan’s RWC squad after yet another impressive performance in the green jersey. Kelly scored a fine try and set up the score for Denis Hickie when he ran the ball out of his own 22 before linking with Hickie who ran in from half-way.

The Ireland squad from which the team to play Scotland will be chosen is:

Forwards (12):

Simon Best (Ulster Belfast Harlequins), Shane Byrne (Leinster Blackrock College), Reggie Corrigan (Leinster Greystones), Victor Costello (Leinster St. Mary s College), Kieron Dawson (London Irish), Simon Easterby (Llanelli), Marcus Horan (Munster Shannon), Eric Miller (Leinster Terenure College), Paul O Connell (Munster Young Munster), Malcolm O Kelly (Leinster St. Mary s College), David Wallace (Munster Garryowen), Keith Wood (Munster);

Backs(10):

Girvan Dempsey (Leinster Terenure College), Guy Easterby (Rotherham), Denis Hickie (Leinster St. Mary s College), Anthony Horgan (Munster Cork Constitution), David Humphreys (Ulster Dungannon), Brian O Driscoll (Leinster Blackrock College), Ronan O Gara (Munster Cork Constitution), Kevin Maggs (Bath), Geordan Murphy (Leicester), Peter Stringer (Munster Shannon).

Additional players for training:

Jonathan Bell (Ulster-Dungannon), Emmet Byrne (Leinster St. Mary s College), Gordon Darcy (Leinster-Lansdowne), Anthony Foley (Munster-Shannon), Tyrone Howe (Ulster-Dungannon), Rob Henderson (Munster-Garryowen), Donncha O Callaghan (Munster-Cork Constitution), Alan Quinlan (Munster-Shannon).