One of Ireland’s surprise World Cup selections expresses sympathy for players who missed out

He knows what it is like.

Darren Cave is among 17 Irish men who are set to make their Rugby World Cup debut at this month's tournament that kicks off in just over two weeks. The Ulster man got his place at the expense of some other well known faces, and has admitted that it's a tough situation for some players to miss out. The centre knows that he is among the lucky ones but also has expressed his sympathy to the players who failed to make the 31-man-squad,

"I mean it is tough. The last couple of months it's easy to say I've been working hard but there are 15 or 16 people in camp who have trained just as hard  and some didn't make it." "It's disappointing for them but you know I've been on the other side of it plenty of times in my career so I do feel for them but at the same time I'm happy that I made the cut."

Schmidt announced his team officially today but the team was widely leaked on Monday afternoon. The Kiwi had to make several hard phone calls to players who didn't make the cut while Cave was contacted to tell of his place in the squad by email. The Ulster man feels that making the decision is not easy on the head coach but there is a method to it

"I think it's understandable but I think it's nice that Joe takes the time to ring all of them and talk to them about it other than firing them a text or whatever." "If you get an email you'd really need a list explaining why you got the email, you're just thankful you did get it and train hard."

H/T Irish Rugby