truebluefan

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has kept faith with his World Cup flops for the Six Nations opener against Italy.

O'Sullivan has named a 22-man squad for the Croke Park showdown that includes 14 survivors from the team smashed 30-15 by Argentina in September.

Among the new faces are highly-rated Leinster No.8 Jamie Heaslip, who has won three caps, and his provincial colleague Bernard Jackman.

An update on Paul O'Connell's back injury is expected soon - surgery would force him to miss the entire Six Nations - so Donncha O'Callaghan and Malcolm O'Kelly are the first choice locks.

O'Sullivan will remain loyal to the players that misfired so spectacularly at the World Cup for as long as possible.

To an extent the Ireland coach is caught between a rock and a hard place, weighing up the pressing need to uncover the next generation of Test players with the win-at-all-costs approach essential if he is to keep his job.

A poor performance in the Six Nations would conclude O'Sullivan's six-year reign as Ireland boss and the 49-year-old is under immense pressure.

The precarious nature of his position is no more apparent than in the Irish Rugby Football Union's decision to delay making the new appointments of team manager, backs coach and sports psychologist until after the tournament.

Mindful that a new head coach might want different personalities on his management team, the IRFU is waiting to see how the Six Nations unfolds before acting.

But O'Sullivan is confident his first choice Ireland team remains a force to be reckoned with as he fights to restore his battered reputation.

"It's not rocket science to see where it went wrong at the World Cup," he said.

"We didn't play enough rugby in the build-up to the tournament and we were in a difficult group which we struggled to get out of.

"But we didn't become a bad rugby team overnight. The Six Nations is an opportunity to prove that."