This afternoon’s session on a thawed pitch will answer any remaining questions in Joe Schmidt’s mind
As Gordon D’Arcy found out last November – miss the Tuesday training session and your chances of making that weekend’s starting line-up are slim. Ireland’s pitch session was delayed [due to a morning freeze] until 2pm today and, as such, Schmidt and his coaching staff have not finalised their starting line-up for Saturday’s match with Italy.
Forwards coach, Simon Easterby told us, however, that he was involved in a lengthy selection debate with Schmidt and his fellow coaches at Carton House, on Monday night.
Jamie Heaslip should start at No.8 following a knee injury, sustained on Leinster duty, while Conor Murray declared himself fit and raring to go. ‘It’s not unusual as a lot of players, due to bumps or bruises, may not train until the Tuesday after the Italy game, ahead of the French game. You have to give the players the opportunity [to recover] and adapt your plans,’ said Easterby.
Sean O’Brien, Heaslip’s fellow Leinster back-row, was given a playing opportunity against England Saxons, last Friday and impressed his coaches in a 50-minute stint. The best O’Brien can hope for, however, is a bench role against Italy. Schmidt will ease the Tullow man back and is letting Jordi Murphy and Tommy O’Donnell battle it out for the No.7 jersey. At present, Murphy looks the favourite to join Heaslip and Peter O’Mahony at the back of the Irish pack.
Easterby said, ‘Sean’s good but I think, by his own assessment, he blew up a little bit. You would do, having not played a game of rugby for as long as he did. He’s a long time out of the game but we all saw what he could be [against Saxons] and the competitiveness of the man.
‘He’s not a bad guy to have around the squad and having him in the mix for selection is a real positive, especially after losing Chris Henry and Rhys Ruddock.’
The biggest selection quandary, with Ian Madigan to edge Ian Keatley for out-half, lies at tight-head. Mike Ross is a man who, all of a sudden, finds genuine competition for his spot. Marty Moore and Nathan White are Schmidt’s alternatives if he wants to heave his scrummaging keystone in plenty of time for the World Cup.
Worrying for Ross, Easterby says the number of caps a player has will have no bearing on the make-up of the team to face the Azzurri. The coach said, ‘It’s an area we feel we have some real depth in… Rossy came through a good work-out, against Saxons, and the scrum went well, which we were happy with. But, there’s a number of tight calls [to be made].’
*If players being sent up for interview is an indicator to Schmidt’s thinking, it should be noted that Murray, O’Mahony, Rob Kearney, Devin Toner, Rory Best and Robbie Henshaw sat down and, in Toner’s case, towered above to chat to assembled media at Carton House this afternoon.
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