Ireland v Argentina: Teams
Ireland coach Declan Kidney has handed recalls to Geordan Murphy and Jerry Flannery for Saturday's showdown with Argentina.
Last Updated: 20/11/08 4:48pm
Ireland coach Declan Kidney has handed recalls to Geordan Murphy and Jerry Flannery for Saturday's showdown with Argentina at Croke Park.
Girvan Dempsey had started at full-back in the 22-3 defeat to New Zealand, but he drops out of the squad completely to accommodate Murphy.
Flannery is handed the No.2 jersey in pace of hooking rival Rory Best, who has recovered from a dead leg to take his place on the bench.
Kidney has also turn to Stephen Ferris to fill the hole left by Alan Quinlan, who misses the match after being suspended for three weeks for stamping.
"Geordan has been playing well. Full-back is an area that is highly competitive at the moment," said Kidney.
Strengths
"We felt it was tight over who would start in the last two weekends and Geordan is the right man for the job against Argentina.
"He is a good reader of the game. He has his strengths and like all players he has things that don't go his way.
"He has been around that long that everyone knows what he can do.
"Stephen started against Canada. He played well and I had that in mind before last night's hearing.
"Jerry played very well against Canada and Rory played well last week. It's not that Rory has done a whole lot wrong, it's just a judgment call."
However, the Kidney has left a place free on the bench should Quinlan win a late reprieve and win his appeal against the ban.
Infection
Having gone into the game against New Zealand without any second row cover on the bench, Kidney has named Leinster's veteran lock Malcolm O'Kelly among the replacements.
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has made five changes to his starting XV for the trip to Croke Park.
Horacio Agulla comes in at full-back with Bernardo Stortoni, who played in that position in the 22-14 win at Italy last weekend, dropping to the bench.
Francisco Leonelli comes in on the right wing in place of Federico Martin Aramburu who switches to centre alongside Miguel Avramovic.
The pair replace Gonzalo Tiesi and Felipe Contepomi. Skipper Contepomi misses out after contracting an infection in a cut on his right hand.
Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe therefore takes over as captain and moves to the openside. Juan Manuel Leguizamon will take his place at number eight.
Phelan's final change sees Rimas Alvarez Kairelis come into the second row at the expense of Esteban Lozada.
Ireland: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Robert Kearney, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Thomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 TBC, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Keith Earls.
Argentina: 15 H Agulla, 14 F Leonelli, 13 FM Aramburu, 12 M Avramovic, 11 R Carballo, 10 JM Hernandez, 9 N Vergallo, 8 R Roncero, 7 M Ledesma, 6 JP Orlandi, 5 R Alvarez, 4 P Albacete, 3 M Durand, 2 JM Fernandez Lobbe (capt), 1 JM Leguizamon.
Replacements: 16 AV Basualdo, 17 M Ayerza, 18 E Lozada, 19 A Galindo, 20 A Figuerola, 21 S Fernandez, 22 B Stortoni.