Horgan wings in as full-back pair fail test
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SHANE HORGAN will start on the right wing for Ireland against Wales at Croke Park tomorrow after Girvan Dempsey and Geordan Murphy were both ruled out by injury.
Dempsey (hip) and Murphy (Achilles tendon) failed fitness tests yesterday morning so Rob Kearney switches from left wing to full back, Tommy Bowe crosses over and Horgan takes Bowe's position on the right.
Horgan's place on the bench will be filled by his Leinster team-mate Luke Fitzgerald which provides Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan with an exciting impact option.
Kearney has done very well on the left this season but many believe full back is his natural position where his huge left-foot kicks can be best employed. Horgan has been a regular on the right wing since making his debut in 2000 under Warren Gatland and he brings massive experience to the team. He also has a nine-inch height advantage over Shane Williams, his direct opponent, which Ireland can use to their advantage.
Meanwhile,Wasps believe that England have over-reacted in expelling their rising star, Danny Cipriani, from the side to play Scotland at Murrayfield tomorrow after he was photographed leaving a London nightclub shortly after midnight.
Club coach, Ian McGeechan, commented: "We are hugely disappointed with the decision."
He was backed by his fellow Wasps coach, Shaun Edwards, who feels that the best thing for a young man to do facing his first international start is to relax. "Danny went to drop off some tickets for friends and did not stay inside the nightclub for any length of time and he was not drinking."
- Hugh Farrelly
