PAUL FLAVIN, the 24-year-old Blackrock prop forward, was yesterday chosen to fill the loose-head berth on the Ireland team to meet Scotland in the International Championship at Murrayfield on Saturday. Flavin replaces Nick Popplewell, who withdrew from the team on Tuesday because of a hamstring injury.
Flavin has won one cap, gained when he came on as a replacement for Popplewell in injury time in the match against France last, month. He has been the bench replacement throughout the championship, but had been selected to play against Scotland in the A international at Myreside tomorrow.
New Zealand-born Gavin Walsh was named as the prop replacement in the championship side, but he is a specialist tight head who has played on the loose side. The selectors had delayed naming Popplewell's replacement until yesterday afternoon and were obviously assessing Flavin, Walsh and probably Henry Hurley, who has been capped twice at loose head, during training in Limerick.
In opting for Flavin, the selectors have wisely gone for a specialist loose head.
A former pupil of Blackrock College, he has served a good apprenticeship. He played for Ireland at under-21 level against the Wolfhounds in 1991 and while he played for Leinster in the under-19 and under-20 grades, he subsequently declared for Connacht and played for the province throughout the 1994-95
interprovincial series. But he declared for Leinster again last season and won his first A cap against Scotland in Donnybrook - a match won by Ireland. He also played in the A matches against Wales and England.
He came on as a replacement for Henry Hurley in the peace match against the Barbarians in May and was one of the players contracted by the IRFU prior to the start of this season. He was on the Ireland A side that defeated South Africa in November.
Flavin's elevation to the senior side means that Hurley will now fill the loose-head berth on the A team and Gary Leslie (Dungannon) comes into the A replacements for Hurley.
As expected, second row Mick Galwey and out-half Killian Keane are both out of the A team. Galwey has a back injury and Keane a knee injury. Steve Jameson (St Mary's College) comes in for Galwey, as he did against England A. Keane's place goes to Richard Governey (Lansdowne), who had been selected for the Ireland under-21 team to meet the Scots tomorrow. Governey has played for Ireland at both schools and under-21 levels.
Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution) will take Governey's place at out-half on the under-21 team. It will be O'Gara's first under-21 cap.
The Ireland squad trained again yesterday morning at the University of Limerick complex. Ireland manager Pat Whelan said that there were no other injury worries. Centre Kurt McQuilkin, who had treatment for a bruised hip, second row Jeremy Davidson, who had bronchitis last week, and number eight Ben Cronin, who had an ankle injury, all trained throughout the week.
The team did not train yesterday afternoon, but will have a session this morning before flying to Edinburgh via Dublin this afternoon.
There will be a press conference at Dublin airport this afternoon when a formal announcement ratifying Brian Ashton's appointment as coach, up to and including the World Cup in 1999, is expected. That will be extremely good news for Irish rugby and a timely boost before the match against the Scots.
