The opening match of the Six Nations between Ireland and Scotland will see two surprises in the Irish team in the name of Luke Marshall and Andrew Trimble. Marshall will be replacing Gordon D’Arcy and Trimble will be replacing Tommy Bowe both of which are suffering from back injuries.
There will be some other changes in the Ireland team as Chris Henry the Ulster player will be replacing Sean O’Brien, the injured flanker. Apart from this there will be several records to be made as Brian O’Driscoll will be making his 129th appearance in this match. He will surpass Ronan O’Gara’s 128 caps. Another personal milestone will be for Rob Kearney who will make his 50th appearance for Ireland. D’Arcy who will be replaced by Luke Marshall was one of the best performers of Ireland and was also a great player in All Blacks. It is to be seen whether this will be a setback for Ireland or not.
One of the major talking points about the team selection is the omission of the Leinster centre who has 75 caps under his belt. Given the physical demands which this competition requires it was a wise decision taken by the coach. When asked about this he said that it is better for the team and he would definitely understand why he was not included in the squad. It is being speculated that he is being kept fresh for the clash against Wales.
Regarding Gordon the coach said that it was the stomach bugs that were disturbing him in the beginning of the week and he hopes that it would go away before the match against Wales. The back injury is something to worry about but he thinks that the medical staff will be able to come up with something positive before the end of this week.
