Gavin Coombes backed to make World Cup impact, but must feature against England

Patrick McCarry

There was one exchange in Andy Farrell’s post-post-match chat with journalists after the Italy win.

Asked by one reporter if it was his ‘intention to use all 42 players in the squad’ during the World Cup warm-ups, Andy Farrell cut in, “No, no. Take it as it is.

“Watch training, judge everyone accordingly, getting the right balance of making sure that everyone has got enough game time, while the people that deserve a chance will get a chance… it’s about making sure we prepare the 33 [players] for the World Cup.”

While the likes of Tom Stewart, Calvin Nash and Ciarán Frawley all made their Ireland debuts in that 33-17 win over Italy, the England and Samoa games will be a different matter. We may see a more frontline XV against England while the Samoa game could be used to prime the team that will kick off the tournament against Romania.

Of all the team selections for this game against England, scrumhalf and No.8 are the most intriguing. Conor Murray would be keen for a start during the warm-ups but 9-10 looks likely to be Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne.

At No.8, Jack Conan will miss out after his foot injury, leaving three options for Farrell – Caelan Doris, Gavin Coombes and Cian Prendergast. Simon Zebo, one of Coombes’ Munster teammates, has backed the Cork native to grasp any warm-up chance he gets.

“Gavin Coombes might have a big one, if he can do well in the warm-ups. He’s the type of guy that can just blow the doors wide open and make you think, ‘I didn’t see him coming’.

“He could just have a monumental game, I can see it happening, where no-one is able to tackle him and he’s getting three or four tries from pick-and-goes, and he’s just the talk of the town all of a sudden.”

Gavin Coombes, left, and Jack Crowley during an Ireland rugby squad training at the IRFU High Performance Centre. (Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)

Does Gavin Coombes make the final cut?

At this stage of the Ireland preparations, Andy Farrell and his coaches will be asking themselves if all the 33-man squad questions have been answered. For example, Joe McCarthy and Jacob Stockdale were decent against Italy but the coaches will be going off about two years of training, matches and get-togethers.

Farrell will have a clear plan in mind and while many Irish fans would love to see Gavin Coombes get a crack at the No.8 role against England, the reality is that he has only made two senior Ireland appearances [one start] in two years.

There is a valid argument that Farrell and his team know what Caelan Doris can do at 8. He is world-class there, even if he did get Man of the Match in his first Test outing at openside.

With Conan now sidelined with that foot injury, Doris could be wrapped in cotton wool until the big show gets underway in France. It would also be good to see how Cian Prendergast or Gavin Coombes fare in the 8 jersey, against England. Both would prefer to earn their World Cup squad on the pitch, but Conan’s injury opens the door.

I have an inkling that Doris may well feature from the start and in the 8 jersey, though. This should be the game that sees the most frontliners start, with the XV for Samoa picked with that Romania game in mind.

Coombes has a staggering two tries in every three appearances record and is a newly minted United Rugby Championship winner but, from the outside looking in, Prendergast seems to have the edge on him within that Ireland set-up. Conan’s fitness may tip the balance again.

Coombes will be desperate for any sort of a chance to show what he can do. Whether he gets it or not, remains to be seen.

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