Seven other changes have been made for the Fiji game since that nail-biting draw, with Jonathan Sexton ready to make his debut. Horgan, Reddan and D’Arcy come in from the Leinster backline with winger Keith Earls.

Leo Cullen, Australian born Tom Court and Denis Leamy will join the pack.

Last Saturday saw an awesome display of rugby by both sides in the second Test between the Lions and the Springboks in Pretoria. While the quality of play may have been good, many questioned the character of the players on the South African side where eye gouging and shoulder charging seemed to be the order of the day.

Bakkies Botha and Schalk Burger are both internationally recognised as leading forwards and one would have thought that they knew better. Burger in particular was errant in the manner in which he took part in gouging the Lions’ wing Luke Fitzgerald. A citing commission handed him an eight week ban for his trouble which means he is likely to miss most of the Tri-nations series between South Africa, New Zealand and Australia (if not all of it).

The other incident was perhaps more questionable as there were many who felt that Bakkies Botha should not have received a yellow card for his infringement. The forward was given a two week ban for what was termed a dangerous charge on prop Adam Jones.

While the Springbok camp has reacted with absolute indignation to both of these charges, it is clear that only the question about the Botha incident is valid. There is certainly no room for eye gouging and hoodlum behaviour as demonstrated by Schalk Burger in the second test.

Schalk Burger was caught on tape within the first 30 seconds of the game, blatantly engaging in an act of gouging on the wing. Later, in the second half of the Test, Bakkies Botha was cited for what was termed a dangerous shoulder charge against Jones.

Luke Fitzgerald is understandably upset and was convinced that Burger should have been sent off immediately following his infringement. As a result of these incidents, both of the Springbok forwards will face disciplinary hearings in the South African capital of Pretoria. They could each face bans that would mean they are not available for the third and final test of the Lions’ tour.

Adam Jones’ tour has likely come to an end after he suffered a dislocated shoulder during his contact with powerful Botha. This is only one of a number of injury concerns that now plague the Lions after today’s second test.

Paddy Wallace moves off the bench and into centre, while Geordan Murphy gets his space on the bench.

“While obviously disappointed for Luke, I was delighted to get the word from Michael (Bradley) that I would be starting the game.

“You never want to benefit from somebody else’s misfortune, but playing against the All Blacks is going to be a huge challenge as they are the top team in the world and have some superb players across the park.

“You always want to test yourself against the best, so this weekend is going to be a big game,” he added.

“I have been playing a lot of my rugby in the centre for Ulster this season, so I don’t have any concerns about being able to slot into the position with Brian (O’Driscoll).

“He has so much experience and is one the top players in the world, so hopefully it should be a smooth transition for us.

“We have had a couple of training sessions to work on systems and patterns together, so I think we have prepared quite well.”

In a game where Ronan O’Gara collects his 80th cap, there will be a huge boost for the squad with Paul O’Connell on the bench – collecting his 50th cap if he gets any game time!

The only injury concern is Tony Buckley who will undergo a fitness test at the end of the week, Bryan Young has been called into the squad just in case. O’Driscoll’s calf tightened in training this morning, so Luke Fitzgerald will not play for Ireland ‘A’ and will remain with the senior squad as a precaution.

IRELAND TEAM & REPLACEMENTS – Ireland v Scotland, 2008
RBS 6 Nations, Croke Park,
Saturday, February 23, kick-off 5pm local time

15 – Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster) 80
14 – Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 10
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) 81 (capt)
12 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster) 21
11 – Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 3
10 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster) 79
9 – Eoin Reddan (London Wasps) 7
1 – Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster) 53
2 – Bernard Jackman (Clontarf/Leinster) 6
3 – John Hayes (Bruff/Munster) 81
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 42
5 – Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster) 13
6 – Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster) 29
7 – David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster) 43
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster) 5

Replacements:
16 – Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 19
17 – Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster) 4
18 – Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) 49
19 – Simon Easterby (Llanelli Scarlets) 63
20 – Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster) 80
21 – Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster) 6
22 – Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster) 58

Not Considered:
Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster) {wrist}
Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster) {arm}