“I haven’t made a concrete decision yet but I’m heading that way,” admitted Murphy when asked if he was considering retirement from the test arena. “I spoke to Declan Kidney at the end of the World Cup. I’m weighing up my options at the moment and I’ll probably make a call on it just before the Six Nations.”

“He’s been texting me. The closer the game gets, I’m receiving more and more text messages from him,” said Murphy. He swears a lot at me in Italian and he’s trying to teach me all the bad words. I’m not going to repeat them.”

The lean Murphy takes a playful swipe at his giant friend’s appetite for food. “I’m thinking of leaving some baskets of chips in the corners. That should do it. The amount he eats, it should distract him quite nicely. If you look at the shape of both of us, I tend to drink a lot of water and he tends to eat a lot of the food.”

On a more serious note, Ireland are well aware of the threat posed by Castrogiovanni, who was pivotal during Italy’s front-row demolition of the United States on Tuesday.

“He’s a good mate of mine, he’s a fantastic prop and he’s a different character off the field to what he is on it,” said Murphy. “He’s certainly one of Italy’s key players.”

Ireland go into the game knowing a draw or better would guarantee top spot in the group while a win for Italy may still be insufficient for them to reach their first World Cup quarter-final.

Ireland have won the last 15 meetings between the two but needed a dramatic late drop goal from Ronan O’Gara to scramble a 13-11 victory in Rome during the Six Nations earlier this year. Murphy knows that they need to be on their guard against a vastly improved Italian side.

“They’ve improved massively over the years, they are a serious side, they’re a very physical side but they’re playing some good football alongside that now and are scoring some good tries,” said Murphy. “It’s the biggest game of the pool, they’ve said they are targeting it,” he added.

“They will raise their intensity from the Six Nations. It’s the World Cup, it’s a level up and I’m sure the game will reflect that. Our backs will be against the wall as much as theirs will.” The good form of a fit-again Rob Kearney may deny Murphy a place in the starting line up.

Kidney has added 12 players to the squad on top of the 22 match-day squad for the Scotland game a week ago. O’Leary is recalled along with Munster team-mates Donnacha Ryan, Mick O’Driscoll, Johne Murphy and Tony Buckley.

Leinster sees Fergus McFadden back in after making way for Tommy Bowe last week, along with Devin Toner, Kevin McLaughlin and Rhys Ruddock.

Ulster’s Andrew Trimble and Connacht’s Mike McCarthy and Gavin Duffy are the remaining additions.

Kearney has not played any rugby since the injury against New Zealand in November, Leinster haven’t particularly felt the pain from this as Isa Nacewa has done a sterling job, but Kidney would surely like to use him. Geordan Murphy is still out so Like Fitzgerald gets the opportunity to shine.

Geordan Murphy makes a welcome return after returning from injury and Jonathan Sextion will start at outhalf.

John Hayes wins his 100th cap as part of a front row that contains Rory Best in replacement for Jerry Flannery. Donncha O’Callaghan makes a welcome return alongside Paul O’Connell.

Ireland Team & Replacements (v England, RBS 6 Nations Championship, Twickenham, February 27th, 16:00)

15 – Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
14 – Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 – Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 – Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10 – Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
9 – Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
1 – Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 – Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 – John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 – Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 – Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 – David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:
16 – Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
17 – Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
18 – Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
19 – Shane Jennings (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
20 – Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

This is precisely the feeling that Gordon D’Arcy and Geordan Murphy had when they heard the announcement that they are set to play for the Baa Baas. While they are going to face one another in the Heineken Cup final when Leinster take on Leicester, they will be on the same side the following week.

The Barbarians are set to take on England at Twickenham on May 30. There are also other Irish players in the side including Rocky Elsom and Doug Howlett.

While both players are thrilled with the news, they have for now got more immediate things to focus on as they prepare for the huge final that awaits them next week.

BARBARIANS 2009 SUMMER TOUR Squad: Backs (12) - Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues & New Zealand), Doug Howlett (Munster & New Zealand)*, Seilala Mapusua (London Irish & Samoa), Luke McAlister (Sale Sharks & New Zealand)*, Josh Lewsey (London Wasps & England)*, Geordan Murphy (Leicester Tigers & Ireland), Ian Balshaw (Gloucester & England), Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster & Ireland)*, Sonny Bill Williams (Toulon)*, Peter Grant (Stormers & South Africa), Justin Marshall (Saracens & New Zealand), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz Olympique & France)*.

Forwards (12) - Sebastien Bruno (Sale Sharks & France), Schalk Brits (Stormers & South Africa), Iestyn Thomas (Scarlets & Wales)*, Greg Somerville (Gloucester & New Zealand)*, BJ Botha (Ulster & South Africa)*, Justin Harrison (Bath & Australia), Chris Jack (Saracens & New Zealand), Paul Tito (Cardiff Blues)*, Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers & England), Jerry Collins (Toulon & New

Geordan Murphy, Jerry Flannery and Stephen Ferris are all drafted back in for the crunch match to ensure Ireland end up in the pool they want for the World Cup Draw.

Commenting on the challenge, Kidney said:

“It’s going to be very physical. It’s an unusual situation in that there’s so much to play for – the ramifications for them to stay in the top four (of the rankings), the ramifications for us for not getting a result.

“They can get drop goals if you let them inside your half, they can pick off points like that. They do have a way of keeping the scoreboard ticking along. They have a strong set piece.

“You don’t get to be ranked fourth by having a bad side. I was also interested looking at the South Africa match during the summer.

“After 30 minutes they were 9-0 up. Two months off with not a whole lot of pre-season under their belt but they showed what they can do.
“Every time you played them there was always something on the line over the last number of years .

“History is history…you have to see ten matches. It’s five-all and they have won the last three. We just have to concentrate on our game.”

Discussing the changes made to the side that lost 22-3 to New Zealand, Kidney agreed that once again there were a number of tight calls.

“Geordan (Murphy) has been playing well. Full-back is just an area that is highly competitive at the moment.

“It was tight over who would start over the last two weekends. We just thought he was the right man for this job.

“Stephen (Ferris) started against Canada. He played well. I would have had that in mind before last night’s hearing (for Alan Quinlan).

“At hooker, it’s a case of two guys playing well with a third man, Bernard (Jackman), breathing down their necks.

“Jerry (Flannery) played very well when he started against Canada and he played well last week. It’s not that Rory has done a whole lot wrong. It is just a judgement call really.

“The provincial coaches know all about it – the six-day, seven-day or eight-day turnaround. That’s the fine line and the way things go.”

Best will take his place on the replacements bench, having recovered from a dead leg, while Paul O’Connell retains his second row spot after fighting off a similar injury.

However, Kidney has some other concerns as he looks to confirm who will take the back row vacancy left in the replacements.

“There are a number of concerns. Shane Jennings picked up a knee injury,” he said.

“Denis Leamy, who had also been training with us, took a knock playing for Munster on Tuesday night. We’d be just hopeful that it would work out and Alan would be available.”

The appeal of Quinlan’s ban will take place in Dublin tomorrow (Friday) and the Irish management will await its result with interest.

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.”

“They will be at Tuesday’s training session or Thursday’s,” he said. “Brian was with us right up until the Baa-Baas (Barbarians) match and Geordan and Eion were involved in the Six Nations (when) the systems were in place.

“They’re smart rugby players and they’ll do their homework for our match on Saturday, so it’s not really an issue for us.”

In the absence of Brian O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara will captain a side, which will once again include Geordan Murphy and have Shane Horgan at centre.

Meanwhile Jonny Wilkinson has been dropped to the bench to make room for Danny Cipriani (previously dropped for breaking curfew).