Ireland are back to their Best
Ireland confirmed Thursday that Rory Best would be their starting hooker to play Wales in a World Cup quarterfinal in Wellington on Saturday.
The decision had been delayed 24 hours as their top No.2 struggled to recover from a shoulder injury suffered in last week’s 36-6 victory over Italy that confirmed them as Pool C winners.
When the quarterfinal team was named on Wednesday, Best was included in the side but with the rider that Sean Cronin would start with Damien Varley added to the bench if he failed to recover in time.
A statement from the Ireland side on Thursday said Best would start with Cronin among the replacements.
Ireland: 15 Robert Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O’Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O’Gara, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O’Connell, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Jonathan Sexton, 22 Andrew Trimble.
Date: Saturday, October 8
Venue: Regional Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 18.00 (05.00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes, Romain Poite
TMO: Giulio De Santis
AFP
