O'Driscoll steps in for O'Connell

Team News:With the championship still a possibility against Italy in Rome, Eddie O'Sullivan would have preferred a less controversial ending to the Scotland game but considering the worrying scenes at the final whistle Ireland are in relatively good shape.

They are undoubtedly fortunate to have emerged with just the one absentee as a result of the Triple Crown triumph, after seeing captain Brian O'Driscoll crash awkwardly down on to that shoulder and having watched Ronan O'Gara lose consciousness after a tackle in the final minute.

As it stands Paul O'Connell is the only definite absentee with a fractured thumb. His Munster teammate Mick O'Driscoll will make his first Six Nations start in his place, with Trevor Hogan drafted on to the replacements bench as cover.

There also remains a slight doubt over the availability of Marcus Horan, who has not fully recovered from a calf injury but is expected to start in Rome, relegating Simon Best back down to the bench.

The shoulder injury that prevented replacement scrumhalf Isaac Boss from making the bench against Scotland is still an issue for the Kiwi, so Eoin Reddan will offer back up to Peter Stringer.

Horan's absence would be a real concern against a team whose strength lies in their ability to dominate up front, and who have a ready  made replacement frontrow on the bench. Encouragingly, he trained today but O'Sullivan was reluctant to make a definite call at this stage.

"It's a grade one muscle strain which takes six to seven days (recovery),and happened last Friday. That puts him right on the cusp of whether he'll make it or not," said O'Sullivan. "So, we'll give him until Friday before we make a decision."

O'Connell had an operation last night, in which his thumb was pinned,  meaning he is a doubt for Munster's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Llanelli Scarlets on March 30th.

O'Sullivan recognises his loss is significant but was at pains to stress today O'Driscoll has earned his chance to win his ninth cap and that this is a pack with more than one leader in it's ranks. Indeed, Simon Easterby has captained the side before.
 
"He's (O'Connell) a talisman for the team, he always has been. He'll be hard to replace, but you have to give Mick some credit as well.  Mick has been waiting in the wings for a while and shown some good form for Munster. He'll be happy to take his chance now."

There was relief today that Brian O'Driscoll is available after taking what looked like a heavy knock to the reinforced shoulder the former Lions captain injured when he was prematurely dumped out of the New Zealand tour.

The Leinster centre got a bit of a fright when he hit the ground but was aware early enough that he wasn't in too much trouble.  "At the time I wasn't sure, I thought I might have dislocated it again, but the pain subsided and that was the difference in feeling from the first time," said the centre today.

"I think I probably owe a huge amount to the specialist Jimmy Colville, who did the surgery, because I think it has come back stronger than it was beforehand."

O'Driscoll hopes the sport has not been damaged too much by the incident that saw O'Gara loses consciousness at the end of the game.  His coach, however, was not backing down today from his claim that an unnamed Scottish player deliberately cut off the outhalf's air after the tackle.

"God no, why would I regret it? I don't regret what I said, I don't see why I should regret it," he said of his allegation. "Just because it wasn't substantiated doesn't mean it didn't happen.  It happens all the time on rugby pitches that there is foul play that isn't substantiated. That's not the first time it's happened."

For now though, the focus is on a win in Rome, and O'Sullivan is loathe to let anything distract him or his side from that, and the possibility of a first Six Nations title in 22 years.

Ireland team:G Dempsey (Leinster); S Horgan (Leinster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), G D'Arcy (Leinster), D Hickie (Leinster); R O'Gara (Munster), P Stringer (Munster); M Horan (Munster) or S Best (Ulster), R Best (Ulster), J Hayes (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), M O'Driscoll (Munster), S Easterby (Llanelli Scarlets), D Wallace (Munster), D Leamy (Munster).

Replacements:J Flannery (Munster), S Best (Ulster) or B Young (Ulster), N Best (Ulster), T Hogan (Leinster), E Reddan (Wasps), P Wallace (Ulster), A Trimble (Ulster).

Not Considered due to injury:
Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster) {shoulder} Malcolm O'Kelly (St.Mary's College/Leinster) {knee} Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) {Hand}