Gordon D’Arcy and Paul O’Connell are set to be recalled in an otherwise unchanged Irish starting XV when the team and replacements are announced at lunchtime today for Saturday’s Six Nations rendezvous with Wales at the Aviva Stadium. As a consequence, Dan Tuohy is expected to revert to the bench.
Presuming O’Connell recovers fully from the chest infection which he contracted overnight before Ireland’s win over Scotland, he was always certain to be recalled to lead the side against Wales. If there was any surprise over the initial preference of Tuohy over his younger and more versatile Ulster teammate Iain Henderson last week, there assuredly won’t be today given Tuohy’s high workrate and aerial skills against the Scots.
Playing demands
For all the fears about O’Connell not being able to lead the side in their Six Nations opener, in hindsight not only was it a relatively good match to miss given Ireland’s 22-point winning margin, it has reduced the playing demands on the 34-year-old skipper in this year’s tournament while assuredly imbuing Tuohy with more belief in an Irish jersey, whatever the number. O’Connell’s return adds to Ireland’s leadership and big-game experience for what is likely to be one of the more seismic collisions in this year’s tournament.
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D’Arcy himself was unwell at the start of last week, which Joe Schmidt said was a small contributory factor in the choice of Luke Marshall to partner Brian O’Driscoll last Sunday.
Marshall is a talented all-round footballer with a big future, and he did not play at all badly. Hence, as was the case when Schmidt recalled D’Arcy to face New Zealand last November, after preferring Marshall for the Australian encounter a week earlier, he has seemingly opted for experience, established rapport with O’Driscoll, directness and ability to get over the gain line against the Welsh.
Rare glitches
D’Arcy has always been one of Ireland’s most under-rated performers, with relatively rare glitches over the years often being excessively highlighted, and he responded to his recall against the All Blacks with a superb display. He has an intuitive understanding with O’Driscoll with whom he has played 52 Tests as a midfield combination, two more than the previous record holders, Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu.
D’Arcy’s experience, reading of the game and footwork have enabled him to punch above his defensive weight in midfield – invariably forcing the attacker to make the decision as one former team-mate put it – for many years. Aside from a few glitches in the midfield defence last week, for which O’Driscoll was also culpable when leaving a sizeable gap out wide which the Welsh would be better equipped to exploit, there was a lack of directness until O’Driscoll began doing his impersonation of Kevin Maggs by running hard and straight at the Scottish midfield in the second-half. It gave Ireland more go-forward momentum as a result.
Article source: http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Brilliant-Bath-Rugby-slay-Newport-Gwent-Dragons/story-20431308-detail/story.html
Gordon D"Arcy set to return and hold Ireland"s centre
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