EVERY YEAR IRELAND’S Six Nations meeting with Italy prompts calls for heavy rotation, and every year, those hoping for sweeping changes tend to be dissapointed.
That’s not the case today. The six changes made by Andy Farrell from the team that started against France is a radical move by the Ireland head coach’s standards. Farrell usually leans towards consistency and cohesion but when Ireland take on Italy this afternoon [KO 3pm, Virgin Media] there will be a handful of players who know this might be their one opportunity to shine in this Six Nations.
Some of those moves are injured enforced, with Peter O’Mahony, Tadhg Furlong and Bundee Aki all nursing injuries, but some are simply opportunities for young players to show their value.
The matchday 23 contains a combined total of 695 caps – down from 1,033 against France. Robbie Henshaw (68 caps) is the most experienced international in a starting team which contains six players with less than 20 caps to their name.
Craig Casey (13 caps) and Ryan Baird (16) have both found Test minutes hard to come by, but both feel they have the qualities to become important players for Ireland over the coming years.
That two of Casey’s three previous Test starts have come against Italy tells you everything about how hard he’s found it to force himself into the picture. He comes into this game having played some career-best rugby with Munster recently, and will benefit from having his provincial team-mate Jack Crowley alongside him in the half-backs.
Similarly, Baird can thrive in an all-Leinster backrow, where he’s joined by Caelan Doris, who captains Ireland for the first time today, and Jack Conan, who made a telling impact off the bench in Marseille.
Both Casey and Baird need to seize their opportunity today.
There’s forward-thinking around the decision to hand Doris the captaincy, too. Doris is already established as a senior figure in this Ireland squad but at just 25, his best years should still be ahead of him. The backrower has the potential to be Peter O’Mahony’s long-term successor as Ireland captain and this is a smart way of easing him into the pressures of the job.
Farrell has been conscious of encouraging young players to take on more leadership throughout his time in charge, with this just the latest example.
“Yeah, 100%. The leadership group and the rest of the squad continue to grow in that regard,” says Farrell. “Seeing them get behind Caelan this week so Caelan is comfortable just being himself has been a joy to watch really.
“Then, there’s obviously others within that group who are more than capable. You look at Iain Henderson, the leadership that he’s got, James Ryan, who has obviously captained Ireland for us before, Garry Ringrose is going through the roof as a leader. We’re in a good space as far as that’s concerned.”
There’s a layer of talent below those players who also look ready to make this team their own. Crowley (24) impressed on his first Six Nations start against France and 22-year-old Joe McCarthy was a sensation on his tournament bow. Calvin Nash (26) is a bit further down the line but also stepped up on the occasion of just his second Test cap.
All three start again today and all eyes will be on McCarthy after last week’s star turn at the Stade Vélodrome. He’ll relish the chance to roll up his sleeves up again in front of a sold-out home crowd.
“He’s been class,” says Doris. “He’s obviously a physical specimen, he’s a bit of a freak in the gym and he looks like you’ve just gotten a pump and pumped him up. He’s very swollen all the time almost.
“Probably when he first came on the scene he was a little bit raw, like we all are, but his discipline has improved a lot, his carries are pretty freakish. The size of him, for such a big guy, he’s very athletic, he’s got such big footwork, he’s got good hands, he’s capable of keeping the ball alive with offloads and he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
There’s further intrigue on the Ireland bench, where Harry Byrne gets the vote ahead of Ciarán Frawley. Farrell has long been an admirer of Byrne but remarkably, if he gets on the pitch today he’ll win his first cap in over two years.
Italy may view Ireland’s rotation as a slight on their own quality, and Gonzalo Quesada’s side do have the ability to cause the home side problems. Italy have smart attackers and good strike plays, and while the return of gifted fullback Ange Capuozzo is a boost, the loss of backrowers Sebastian Negri (ribs) and Lorenzo Cannone (leg) strips the visitors of some power in the pack.
After coming up short against England last week, Italy’s challenge is to put together an 80-minute performance as they bid to record a first ever Six Nations win in Dublin. Ireland’s challenge is to ensure the personnel changes doesn’t lead to a dip in performance levels.
“I think Italy will have lot of belief based on what they did last week in how they played and the result they got, in having a new coaching staff in, we’ve always rated their attack very highly,” says Doris.
“We’d said last year that it was probably the best attack we were going to face [in the Six Nations] and it’s the same this year. They’ve got a lot of structure in it, [Paolo] Garbisi and [Ignacio] Brex are two key figures in their back line in particular and you saw some of the tries they scored against England last week.
Our defence has been a big area [of focus], getting our width and being able to apply line speed and shut them down there but it’s definitely going to be a big challenge.
“We’re looking forward to implementing our attack. We all love the buy-in to our attack and what it can offer if all 15 of us are fully bought in. We believe it can break down defences pretty well so we are excited by that but I think their attacking threat is a good one as well.”
That said, anything other than a bonus-point win for the hosts will be viewed as a major disappointment. It’s strange to see an Ireland team-sheet with none of Sexton, O’Mahony, Furlong, Aki, Ringrose or Beirne in the 23, but this is an ideal opportunity for the next generation to put their stamp on this team.
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan; Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Ryan Baird, Caelan Doris (capt), Jack Conan.
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson, Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park, Harry Byrne, Jordan Larmour.
ITALY: Ange Capuozzo; Lorenzo Pani, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fischetti, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Pietro Ceccarelli; Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Alessandro Izekor, Manuel Zuliani, Michele Lamaro (capt).
Replacements: Giacomo Nicotera, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosue Zilocchi, Andrea Zambonin, Ross Vintcent, Martin Page-Relo, Tommaso Allan, Federico Mori.
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
