Ireland side to face New Zealand
June 11, 2002

Munster's Ronan O'Gara has been rewarded for his strong Heineken Cup form by being selected at fly-half for Ireland's clash this Saturday with the All Blacks.

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has chosen O'Gara over David Humphreys who had been first choice throughout the Six Nations campaign but has struggled with an ankle injjury since.

In total O'Sullivan has made a total of seven changes to the side that finished the Six Nations. John Kelly, Justin Bishop, and Geordan Murphy come into the backs and in the pack Reggie Corrigan, Paul O'Connell and Keith Gleeson have claimed a starting berth.

Ireland opened their tour with a convincing 56-3 victory against a New Zealand Divisional XV on Saturday.

The other big call for O'Sullivan was the choice of Brian O'Driscoll's midfield partner. He has gone for Munster winger Kelly, who had a two-try debut against Italy, before dropping out of the squad for the next game.

Ireland side to face New Zealand:
G Dempsey; G Murphy; B O'Driscoll, J Kelly, J Bishop; R O'Gara, P Stringer; R Corrigan, K Wood, capt, J Hayes, G Longwell, P O'Connell, S Easterby, K Gleeson, A Foley.

Replacements to be later.

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