Reddan given shock Irish call-upWasps scrum-half Eoin Reddan has earned a shock call-up as one of three changes for Ireland's World Cup must-win Pool D game against France on Friday night.
Wasps scrum-half Eoin Reddan starts against FranceHeineken Cup winner Reddan replaces the dropped Peter Stringer while Isaac Boss is again named on the bench.
Andrew Trimble returns in place of Denis Hickie on the left wing.
Jerry Flannery replaces injured hooker Rory Best but Neil Best has to be content with a place on the bench while Geordan Murphy is left out of the 22.
There is still no starting place for the physicality of Neil Best, while Murphy has been surprisingly ushered from the bench altogether, with Gavin Duffy named as utility back.
The promotion of Reddan comes out of the blue and ends Stringer's long association with his Munster colleague Ronan O'Gara at half-back.
Stringer, with 79 caps, is Ireland's second most-capped player behind Malcolm O'Kelly, who is again named on the bench.
Reddan was the third choice coming into the World Cup - behind Stringer and Boss, who twice had limited time as a replacement in the games against Namibia and Georgia.
This will be the Limerick-born Reddan's fourth cap after making his debut as a replacement in the 2006 Six Nations game against France.
He made his first start during the summer tour to Argentina, where Ireland lost both Tests with a virtual reserve-strength side.
Reddan was with Munster twice and in between had a season with Connacht before being lured to London in 2005 by Warren Gatland, the former Ireland coach, who was then in charge of Wasps.
Ireland: Dempsey; Horgan, O'Driscoll, capt, D'Arcy, Trimble; O'Gara, Reddan; Horan, Flannery, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Easterby, D Wallace, Leamy.
Replacements: Sheahan, S Best, O'Kelly, N Best, Boss, P Wallace, Duffy
Monday, September 17, 2007
Ireland 22 to play France
From the bbc website
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