North Yorkshire brothers Simon and Guy Easterby have been called into the senior Irish squad for Saturday's Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship clash with Scotland at Lansdowne Road.

Blindside flanker Simon wins his first cap while older brother Guy, a scrum half, is on the bench.

Curiously both Harrogate-born players are professionals with Welsh Premiership clubs, 6ft 5in tall 17st 6lb Simon with Llanelli and Guy with Ebbw Vale.

The pair are from Kirby Wharfe, near Tadcaster and both went to Ampleforth College - where former England Lawrence Dallaglio captain was a student - and played for Yorkshire Schools. They have been regular members of the Ireland 'A' team.

Ampleforth College rugby master Geoff Thurman said: "We are thrilled to bits. It is very rewarding when boys go on to do so well after leaving school."

The Easterbys father, Henry, is a cousin of the Ryedale racehorse trainers, Peter and Mick. They qualify for Ireland through their mother, Catherine, who was born in Blackrock.

The Irish team shows eight changes from the side humbled by England at Twickenham with Simon, 24, being one of five new caps. The others are right wing Shane Horgan, fly-half Ronan O'Gara, scrum-half Peter Stringer and tight head prop John Hayes.

After leaving Ampleforth, Simon played for Harrogate then spent a year in Australia where he played with Sydney University. On his return he was called into the Irish Under 21 side, winning his first cap at that level against Canada in Belfast.

He then played for Leeds Tykes before switching to Llanelli at the start of this season and his performances for the Scarlets brought him to the attention of the Irish selectors.

Guy played with his brother for Harrogate when Peter Clegg, the former York coach, was in charge. He then played for Rotherham and first played for the Irish Exiles in 1997 before graduating to the 'A' team for whom he has won five caps. He joined Ebbw Vale at the start of this season.

Five members of the pack which has steered Munster to the quarter-finals of the Heineken European Cup have been chosen. They are props Peter Clohessy and Hayes, hooker and captain Keith Wood, Galwey and number eight Anthony Foley.

"The injury situation obviously obliged us to make changes", said coach Warren Gatland.

Meanwhile former Pocklington RUFC and Pocklington School three-quarter Jonathan Stuart has taken another step up the representative ladder with his selection to play centre for Scotland 'A' against Ireland 'A' at Dublin's Donnybrook ground on Friday night.

Stuart, from Everingham, an ex-Yorkshire Colts captain and gets his 'A' international cap after gaining Scotland Under 21 honours in 1998. The former Loughborough University student was an integral part of Leicester Tigers' championship winning side last year, but moved to the Glasgow Caledonians super district side this season.

He said: "I got a call from Murrayfield on Monday morning to say I was in the squad, then saw on teletex later in the day that I was in the starting line-up. It's great news and what I've been waiting and working for, for a long time.

"Hopefully this is the next step towards a full cap."

Straight after getting his call up, Stuart was in action in his role as the Glasgow University rugby coach, which he does on his day off. Then it was back to training with Glasgow Caledonians on Tuesday, before travelling to Dublin on Wednesday with the Scotland Under 21 'A' and full international squads for the weekend internationals.

Stuart was at Percy Road for the Pocklington v Old Pocklingtonians match on Boxing Day.

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