Fitzgerald out of All Blacks Test
Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:37
Ireland centre Luke Fitzgerald has been ruled out of the one-off rugby Test against the All Blacks in Wellington on Saturday, after failing a fitness test.
Fitzgerald suffered an ankle injury early in the week and team officials said Thursday his recovery had been slower than expected.
He has been replaced by Paddy Wallace, who scored 14 points in Ireland's recent 39-14 win over the Barbarians.
Geordan Murphy has been added to the bench.
Ireland - revised: 15 Robert Kearney, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan (Wasps), 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Shane Jennings, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Geordan Murphy, 22 Girvan Dempsey.
Date:
Saturday, June 7
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT)
Referee: Chris White (England)
Touch judges: Nigel Owens (Wales), Matt Goddard (Australia)
TMO: Christophe Berdos (France)
