Kidney weighing up his options

IRELAND v ARGENTINA:  IRISH COACH Declan Kidney has given hope to several players who were not part of last Saturday's defeat against the All Blacks as he named a 28-man Ireland squad ahead of the final game in the Guinness Series against Argentina on Saturday in Croke Park.

Kidney has again included both Ulster captain Rory Best and Munster captain Paul O'Connell, who are recovering from dead legs received during the New Zealand game, while other players such as backs Geordan Murphy and Shane Horgan and pack members Tom McCourt, Bob Casey, Bernard Jackman and Malcolm O'Kelly have been, thus far, retained in the enlarged squad.

The starting team and replacements to play against the Pumas will be confirmed tomorrow morning at the team's base in Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel. Six names will be shedded as the squad shrinks to a match-day 22.

Prop Tony Buckley is also included, having being named in the replacements for Munster's match against New Zealand last night in Thomond Park, while the disciplinary hearing for Alan Quinlan will take place this evening. Quinlan's availability is certainly under threat as he has been cited for stamping, while New Zealand loosehead prop Tony Woodcoack is also in the dock for punching.

"Both Paul and Rory are doing okay as they rehab from their dead legs and took a limited part in training today," said Kidney. "Alan is involved in a disciplinary hearing so we are just trying to give as much time as possible for these matters to be cleared up before we confirm the team.

"All three of them have been named in the squad and the fact that we decided on 28 members shows how competitive the battle for places in this game is. It also allows us to cover several combinations if anybody is ruled out of the game.

"While we would normally name our team today (Tuesday), I think the circumstances and also the importance of the game meant we needed to give ourselves that extra couple of days to consider all the options that would become available to us."

While Kidney emptied the bench towards the end of the game against the All Blacks, several players were on the pitch only for a matter of minutes and will doubtlessly feel aggrieved if they are not in again for this week.

Jerry Flannery was the first replacement on for Best late in the second half with the other six players flooding on when the result of the match was really no longer in question. But Kidney's additional fear is that defeat to Argentina could mean that Ireland fall out of the top eight in the IRB rankings. If Ireland lose and Scotland beat Canada, Ireland will slide to ninth in the rankings and into the third band of teams for the draw for the RWC 2011.

"Nobody is doubting the challenge that faces us this Saturday against another team that is above us in the IRB rankings," continued Kidney. "Added to the fact that both teams have something to play for in terms of those world rankings, I think that it gives this game even more of a competitive edge. As I said on Monday, Argentina is a team that work and play extremely hard for each other, so they will no doubt be even better than they have been in their two games to date".

Backs: T Bowe (Ospreys), G Dempsey (Leinster), K Earls ( Munster), L Fitzgerald (Leinster), S Horgan (Leinster), R Kearney (Leinster), G Murphy (Leicester), B O'Driscoll (Leinster), R O'Gara (Munster), T O'Leary (Munster), E Reddan (Wasps), P Wallace (Ulster): Forwards: R Best (Ulster), T Buckley (Munster), B Casey (London Irish), T Court (Munster), S Ferris (Ulster), J Flannery (Munster), J Hayes (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster), M Horan (Munster), B Jackman (Leinster), S Jennings (Leinster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), P O'Connell (Munster), M O'Kelly (Leinster), A Quinlan (Munster), D Wallace (Munster)