Declan Kidney keeps faith with Irish 15 that beat England, Kearney on the bench

By: Declan O'Kelly | Published Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 10:10 AM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:33 PM

Irish rugby coach Declan Kidney has named the same starting 15 that eeked out a backs to the wall win over England for the visit of Wales to Croke Park this Saturday.

Though Rob Kearney is fit again, Kidney has rewarded Goerdan Murphy for his performance at Twickenham by keeping him in the lineup.

Brian O’Driscoll will become the second Irish player to hit the 100-cap mark when he leads the team out on Saturday.

The Irish team to play Wales at Croke Park on Saturday:

1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), 2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), 3 - John Hayes (Bruff/Munster), 4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), 5 - Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster), 6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster), 7 -David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), 8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

15 - Geordan Murphy (Leicester Tigers), 14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), 13 - Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt,) 12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), 11 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), 10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster,) 9 - Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster)

Subs: Sean Cronin, Tony Buckley, Leo Cullen, Shane Jennings, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O'Gara, Rob Kearney