Keith Earls named as last substitute for Ireland Test
British and Irish Lion Keith Earls has been named as Ireland’s final substitute ahead of the team’s opening Test of the Autumn Internationals with South Africa in Dublin on Saturday 6 November.
The Munster player is capable of playing at wing, full-back or centre and has been in fantastic form for Munster since returning from injury.
The player was one of three Irish players who Declan Kidney had not decided on, after he named his starting 15 and six of his seven substitutes for the Test.
Kidney named Earls and Ulster duo Paddy Wallace and Andrew Trimble as the three possibilities he would choose for the final spot in the match day squad.
The Irish coach would most likely have picked Earls in the starting 15, but the player was a serious injury doubt after he picked up an ankle injury.
The British and Irish Lion had only returned from a leg injury to take part in Munster’s Heineken Cup games before he injured his ankle.
Earls returned to training earlier this week and was picked ahead of Trimble and Wallace as the three players were put through their paces by the Irish coach.
The attacking back will hope that he can feature from the bench and he will feel slightly aggrieved that Leinster wing Luke Fitzgerald was given the nod to play the Springboks.
Fitzgerald returned for Leinster this season after spending much of last season on the sideline with a broken leg.
The inclusion of Earls on the bench is likely to give the other players a lift, as he has become one of the best young attacking players in the game.
Ireland beat South Africa 15-10 the last time the two sides met, and with the Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll overcoming his hamstring injury, Ireland will go into the game believing that they should beat the Springboks.
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