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Irish international Luke Fitzgerald to start next Lions game

SETANTA SPORTS

Published Friday, June 5, 2009, 9:56 AM

Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 5:37 PM

Read more: Euan Murray, Andy Powell, Central Cheetahs, Leigh Halfpenny

Luke Fitzgerald, seen here scoring a try for Ireland against Italy, is back in the Leinster squad,

Photo by PA Wire/PA Photos

Leigh Halfpenny and Luke Fitzgerald will both make their first ever starts for The British & Irish Lions in Saturday’s clash with The Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

Donncha O’Callaghan, meanwhile, has also been included for the first time on Tour, while the most recent arrival to the Lions squad, Gordon D’Arcy, has been included amongst the replacements.

Halfpenny only arrived in South Africa this week after being forced to stay behind when The Lions left for South Africa last month because of a troublesome thigh injury.

However, after proving his fitness on Monday, the goal-kicking Welshman has been given the nod on the right wing for the clash with The Cheetahs. He will be joined in the back three by compatriots Lee Byrne and Shane Williams.

Leinster’s Fitzgerald, meanwhile, has been named at inside centre, meaning he will form an all-Irish midfield with Munster starlet Keith Earls.

O’Callaghan’s inclusion means that there will be two Irishmen in the second row, with the Munster lock lining out alongside his provincial and international colleague, Paul O’Connell, who reclaims the captain’s armband from Brian O’Driscoll.

Elsewhere, there are also first starts for Andy Powell, Stephen Ferris, Euan Murray, Ross Ford, Harry Ellis and James Hook.

Wales number eight Powell and Ireland blindside Ferris will line up alongside Joe Worsley in a powerful-looking back row.

Scottish duo Murray and Ford are joined by England loose-head Andrew Sheridan in the front row.

Meanwhile, Ellis and Hook, both of whom impressed as replacements in Wednesday’s 74-10 rout of The Golden Lions, will start at nine and ten respectively.

Regarding his team selection head coach Ian McGeechan said: “With the selection of Donncha O’Callaghan, Leigh Halfpenny and Luke Fitzgerald in the starting XV it means that all the players will have taken the field as planned.

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The Irish rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union, which is a popular sport throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, though only dominant in limited geographical areas. Ireland competes annually in the Six Nations Championship (which they have won ten times outright and of which they have shared the championship eight times) and in the Rugby World Cup every four years where they have been eliminated at the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions (1999 and 2007). They also form a quarter of the British and Irish Lions. Eight former Irish rugby players have earned induction into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, with Jack Kyle also having earned induction into the IRB Hall of Fame. Historically, Irish rugby teams have been less successful then their British neighbors, with the fewer Six Nations Championships (10) and Grand Slams (one). However, the Irish rugby union is widely acknowledged to have made the transition to professionalism more successfully than other middle-ranking rugby powers, and Ireland has produced good results, especially for an island with a population of just six million with strong competition for players with Gaelic games and football. They won three Triple Crowns in the four years from 2004 through 2007. Outside center Brian O'Driscoll, the current captain and Ireland's current all-time leading try scorer, has been frequently named the finest rugby player in the world. Other world-class Irish rugby players on the side include center Gordon D'Arcy; prop Marcus Horan; lock, Paul O'Connell; out half and all-time leading Ireland points scorer Ronan O'Gara; back row forward, David Wallace; winger, Shane Horgan . In the recent past, Keith Wood, O'Driscoll's predecessor as Ireland captain before retiring in 2003, was the inaugural IRB International Player of the Year in 2001. Ireland's highest ever performance in the IRB World Rankings is third, which they reached in 2006. They currently lie in eighth position after an early exit in the 2007 Rugby World Cup and a disappointing 2008 Six Nations campaign, in which they finished fourth. Shortly after the end of the Six Nations, head coach Eddie O'Sullivan resigned his position.

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Irish international Luke Fitzgerald to start next Lions game

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