Jamie Heaslip will captain Ireland in the 6 Nations
— Sinéad Kissane (@sineadkissane) January 17, 2013
The IRFU has announced that Brian O'Driscoll will not captain Ireland during the Six Nations and instead his Leinster teammate Jamie Heaslip will continue the role which he had during the Autumn internationals.
Speaking about the appointment of Jamie Heaslip as captain, Declan Kidney said:
Jamie had done a really good job for the squad and management during November and I felt that now was the correct time to do this. Brian has had very little rugby in the last number of months and I think he deserves the space and time to concentrate on getting himself back playing fully fit.
Brian O'Driscoll added:
The captaincy has been a big part of my career and life over the last number of years, and while I was naturally very disappointed not to be leading the team in the Six nations, when I talked it through with Declan I accepted the reasons behind the decision. I've always known that the Rugby World Cup in 2015 was most likely a bridge too far for me, so at some point a player, who will most likely be there for the tournament, needs to build that captaincy experience.
The Ireland training squad in full for the Six Nations:
Michael Bent, Rory Best, Isaac Boss, Darren Cave, Tom Court, Sean Cronin, Gordon D'Arcy, Keith Earls, Luke Fitzgerald, Declan Fitzpatrick, Craig Gilroy, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, Robbie Henshaw, Paddy Jackson, Rob Kearney, David Kilcoyne, Ian Madigan, Paul Marshall, Conor Murray, Mike McCarthy, Fergus McFadden, Dave McSharry, Sean O'Brien, Donncha O'Callaghan, Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Peter O'Mahony, Eoin Reddan, Mike Ross, Donnacha Ryan, Jonathan Sexton, Lewis Stevenson, Richardt Strauss, Devin Toner, Andrew Trimble, Simon Zebo.
[Irishrugby.ie]
