A good win against the Welsh has left Joe Schmidt with a lot of information to digest.
The Ireland head coach revealed that he will be making some key selections for the World Cup squad this week, speaking after Ireland’s 35-21 win over Wales.
“It has to happen, some of it this week, and I think by the time we announce the team for Scotland, and we’ve made some decisions about who’s going to play against Scotland on Thursday we may an idea of another four or five potentially who will work away.”
Schmidt explained that certain players who are not called up for this round of international tests are not necessarily out of contention for the World Cup squad. He admitted he will be keeping an eye on the provincial clashes to gauge the readiness of players.
“If we release some players back to their provinces, Ulster play Leinster and Munster play Connacht and we’ll be at those games and if they don’t fit into getting an opportunity with us, we’ll still get to see them in those games and that way we can cover a little bit more game time and players can get that opportunity to impress in either environment.”
“They’ll obviously want to impress in our environment because the level will be a little bit more demanding.”
The New Zealand born coach acknowledged the fact that his calls will disappoint certain players. However, he vowed to be honest to those who fail to make the cut, which he feels is a crucial part of the process.
“Inevitably there has to be some communication as to how and why a decision might be made.”
“Sometimes those decisions are very difficult to make and very tight, so they are not great conversations to be honest and they wouldn’t be my favourite part of the job by a long shot.
“But they’re part of the job and it’s part of the respect I have for the players that they’ve committed to our programme so far, are working really hard, and the least you can do is make sure that communication is as clear as it can be, as candid as it can be, but probably conciliatory as well, because I know how hard they’re working.”
Ireland take on Scotland at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday, kick-off 5pm.
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