JOE SCHMIDT CONFIRMED his final team of this year’s Six Nations today. Here it is, and here’s some of our thoughts around it.
Opensides
Just as Tommy O’Donnell was taken out of the number seven jersey having done not a lot wrong, he gets it back after watching Josh van der Flier fly through his first two caps.
Joe Schmidt made a point of mentioning ‘bumps and bruises’ that Van der Flier was struggling with, but there could be an element of horses for courses in the coach’s thinking here.
Van der Flier was preferred against England and Italy, and while those sides have plenty of threats to boast, an outstanding openside is not one of them. Against John Hardie, Van der Flier’s terrific carries may be less appealing that O’Donnell’s greater breakdown experience.
Continuity in 14 positions
There are times when coaches love the opportunity to rotate their squad. However, that moment almost never comes during a Six Nations.
It appeared that Schmidt had the chance to do today what he hasn’t done for two years – name an unchanged XV in the tournament. Instead, he has freshened up the back row to take on an in-form Scotland. With minimal changes, the hope is that the morale-boosting cake-walk against Italy will help tighten an attack that stuttered through the opening three weekends.
Familiar bench
There are three tweaks to the replacements, but two of the three see the return of experienced heads in place of fresh faces.
We know Paddy Jackson will have to wait until Ian Madigan has a house in Bordeaux to compete for the number 22 jersey. Last weekend Fergus McFadden gave an emphatic answer to anybody querying his selection in the utility back slot.
Whether in the centre or the wing, the Leinster man was at the heart of the action during his brief periods on the pitch last weekend and that makes him the archetype of how a Schmidt player should ‘plug in’.
Finlay Bealham and Kieran Marmion slotted in well last weekend too, but the Connacht pair miss out this time around.
Zebo rubber-stamped as fullback
Rob Kearney’s injury last week prompted some (over)excitement that Jared Payne might be deployed in his most threatening position. But it always made more sense for Simon Zebo to run from there.
The Corkman’s left boot helps us think of him mainly as a left wing, but over the past year he has seen more and more game-time at 15, especially at international level.
We would have to see a series where Rob Kearney is fully fit to declare Zebo the new first choice in the position, but his ability to change games with the flick of a wrist deep in either half make him a difficult man to drop.
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