Ireland v Barbarians: Teams

Stand-in Ireland skipper Ronan O'Gara admits he his wary about facing team-mate Alan Quinlan on Friday night at Thomond Park.

Quinlan, who plays alongside O'Gara at Munster, has been selected in the Barbarians line-up for the pre-tour friendly.

Quinlan is joined by fellow Munsterman Paul Warwick and Ireland international Malcolm O'Kelly in the side.

And O'Gara believes his old friend Quinlan will be on a mission to torment his former international colleagues.

"I was talking to Brian O'Driscoll coming home from training and I told him that I think we'll see the real Quinny tonight," said O'Gara.

"It's my first time ever playing against him - usually at training for the last 13 years we've been on the same side.

"I'm closest to Alan of all the players. I have a great relationship with him and he has a heart of gold - but he can torment people.

"He'll torment you all right. That's the way he plays and he's very effective.

Character

"He's a great character - he'll be missed - but there is plenty of rugby left him in yet.

"He's very ambitious. I think he's disappointed not to be going on the Irish tour, so I think he has a point to prove as well.

"It will be interesting to see what way the crowd go because I'm sure there will be a lot of Quinny fans there. We need a few of them cheering us on."

O'Gara will captain the Ireland team in the absence of the rested O'Driscoll, with coach Declan Kidney including four uncapped players in the starting XV.

Fergus McFadden, Ed O'Donoghue, Dan Touhy and Chris Henry will all be looking to impress ahead of the tour to New Zealand and Australia.

The Barbarians have named a star-studded line-up for the clash, with the likes of Schalk Brits, Brock James, Cedric Heymans and George Smith included.

Toulon-bound England winger Paul Sackey is the only doubt due to a hamstring injury.

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney (Leinster), 14 Shane Horgan (Leinster), 13 Gavin Duffy (Connacht), 12 Fergus McFadden (Leinster), 11 Andrew Trimble (Ulster), 10 Ronan O'Gara (Munster), 9 Peter Stringer (Munster), 1 Marcus Horan (Munster), 2 Sean Cronin (Connacht), 3 Tony Buckley (Munster), 4 Ed O'Donoghue (Ulster), 5 Dan Tuohy (Ulster), 6 John Muldoon (Connacht), 7 Neil Ronan (Munster), 8 Chris Henry (Ulster).
Replacements: 16 Jerry Flannery (Munster), 17 Tom Court (Ulster), 18 Mick O'Driscoll (Munster), 19 David Wallace (Munster), 20 Tomas O'Leary (Munster), 21 Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), 22 Paddy Wallace (Ulster).

Barbarians: 15 Paul Warwick (Munster), 14 Cedric Heymans (Toulouse), 13 Casey Laulala (Cardiff Blues), 12 Seru Rabini (Leeds Carnegie), 11 David Smith (Hurricanes), 10 Brock James (Clermont Auvergne), 9 Pierre Mignoni (Toulon), 1 David Barnes (Bath), 2 Schalk Brits (Saracens), 3 Census Johnston (Toulouse), 4 Jerome Thion (Biarritz), 5 Malcolm O'Kelly (Leinster), 6 Alan Quinlan (Munster), 7 George Smith (Brumbies), 8 Xavier Rush (Cardiff Blues).
Replacements: 16 Benoit August (Biarritz), 17 Julian White (Leicester Tigers), 18 Rodney So'oialo (Hurricanes), 19 Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues), 20 Byron Kelleher (Toulouse), 21 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (Toulouse), 22 Paul Sackey (London Wasps) or Fabrice Estebanez (Brive)