IRELAND TEAM TO PLAY WALES

The Ireland team to play Wales in the opening game of the RBS 6 Nations Championship next Saturday at the Millennium Stadium has been named.

In the back-line, Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll will partner each other in the centre for a world record 49th time at international level.

 

Rob Kearney returns to international rugby and starts at full-back to win his 42nd cap with Simon Zebo and Craig Gilroy named on the wings.

 

Second rows Mike McCarthy and Donnacha Ryan will start a Championship match together for the first time, with McCarthy making his first Six Nations start having featured as a replacement last season.

 

Sean O'Brien returns to the starting team after missing the November internationals in a back row that includes Peter O'Mahony and Jamie Heaslip, who will captain Ireland in the RBS 6 Nations Championship for the first time.

 

Ireland team to play Wales, Sat, 1:30pm:

 

Club/Province/international Caps -

15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster/41)
14 - Craig Gilroy (Dungannon/Ulster/1)
13 - Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster/120)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster/71)
11 - Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster/3)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster/34)
9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster/14)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster/35)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster/62)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster/24)
4 - Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht/6)
5 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster/23)
6 - Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster/9)
7 - Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster/22)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster/52) (capt)

 

Replacements:

16 - Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster/23)
17 - David Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster/2)
18 - Declan Fitzpatrick (Dungannon/Ulster/2)
19 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster/91)
20 - Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster/4)
21 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster/47)
22 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster/126)
23 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster/34)

 

PAUL McGINLEY, NAMED RYDER CUP CAPTAIN

Paul McGinley tonight thanked Rory McIlroy for the part he played in him becoming Europe's new Ryder Cup captain, and said: "If Rory does not make the team I think he has got a good chance of a pick now!"

McGinley got the nod at today's European Tour tournament committee meeting in Abu Dhabi, the Dubliner seeing off four other candidates - Scottish trio Colin Montgomerie, Paul Lawrie and Sandy Lyle, and Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez - to land the coveted position.

McGinley, a match-winning hero of Europe's 2002 win and an assistant in the last two victories, was the unanimous choice of the committee on which he also sits, and is relishing the opportunity to pit his wits against United States skipper Tom Watson next year.

"I'm obviously absolutely thrilled and delighted to have this honour," said McGinley, who was asked to leave the room while his candidacy was put under the microscope by the committee today.

"I'm relishing the thought of taking on one of my great heroes," he added of Watson.
"I think he's a wonderful person and a great ambassador for the game of golf."

Watson was quick to offer his congratulations, describing McGinley as "a class act".
"I anticipate that his passion and love of the event will transfer to being an outstanding leader of his team," Watson added.

"Paul has been connected to winning European Ryder Cup teams and is an outstanding representative of European golf.
"I look forward to sharing the stage with him as we make our journey to Scotland."

McGinley added: "It's a humbling experience and it's a week I'm really looking forward to. I knew I had the support of the players - not just Rory."
The support of world number one McIlroy certainly helped McGinley's cause.
Even after Watson was put in charge by the Americans for next year's match at Gleneagles, McIlroy saw no need to deviate from his view that 46-year-old McGinley was the right man for the job, with some observers believing Montgomerie might be the smarter choice.

"I don't mind it being a David and Goliath situation in terms of the captains. It's won on the course, not on the stage," said McIlroy, who turned up at McGinley's press conference to congratulate him in person.
"I have a very strong opinion about this. I really think Paul deserves it.

"He has been a great player and a great personality for the European Tour over the years. I also played under him at the Seve Trophy in 2009 and I thought he did a great job.
"From all the captains I've played under, I think he was the best."

Compatriot Padraig Harrington was also on hand to offer his congratulations as McGinley spoke about becoming the first Irishman to take on the captaincy in the history of the Ryder Cup - even when it was a Britain and Ireland side, rather than the whole of Europe.

Since Europe's famous win on American soil in September, McGinley has maintained a dignified silence while the issue of who should succeed Jose Maria Olazabal was furiously debated.
"I watched with interest," he added. "Like a yo-yo my chances seemed to go up and down.

"I felt the more I said the more my chances would lessen. I was very tempted to speak up, but my wife and friends told me to stay with dignity, don't get involved and it will work in the long term. I believed it too."

WEST HAM SIGN MAGUIRE FROM WATERFORD UTD

West Ham have signed Republic of Ireland Under-19 striker Sean Maguire from Waterford United on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

 Maguire, 18, finished joint top scorer in the League of Ireland First Division in 2012, helping Waterford to gain promotion as runners-up.

 Maguire, who scored 13 goals in 24 appearances, told West Ham TV: "In summer 2011 the Waterford manager brought me in for a couple of training sessions and gave me a chance in the first team and I took it.

Here I am now at West Ham and it's a dream come true really. "People tend to say my best trait is my movement so hopefully I can show that here.

 I haven't been told yet which squad I will be in but I presume I'll be going into the reserves so I'll try to work my way up like I did at Waterford.''