ONE DAY TO go.
After months of discussion, training and three warm-up games, Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt will reveal the 31 names he’s bringing to the Rugby World Cup tomorrow.
While plenty of players look nailed-on to be on the plane across the water, there are plenty of places up for grabs, and there is a lot of debate about who should complete the group. Of course, there are major decisions to be made;
- An 18:13 or 17:14 split between forwards and backs?
- Load up on front rows, or take a utility prop?
- Three scrum halves, or bring two and cross your fingers?
- Are you willing to bring players lacking match fitness, or do your players need to be ready to play?
Front rows
The likely scenario is that Ireland will be bringing 8 front rows to the tournament.
Rory Best, Richardt Strauss and Sean Cronin look set to be the hookers in the squad, but Australia have already bucked the trend by naming just two in theirs.
Are you inclined to agree with Michael Cheika, and if so, which of the trio would you leave at home?
At prop, you have big decisions to make. At tight head your options are Mike Ross, Marty Moore, Nathan White and Tadhg Furlong, while at loosehead Cian Healy is yet to return to full fitness, while Jack McGrath and Dave Kilcoyne have been prominent in the warm-up games. And then you have Michael Bent who can cover both, although his gametime at tighthead in the least 12 months has been limited.
Are you bringing two of each with Bent as an auxiliary? Are you taking three specialists in one position and two in another, or are you going front row heavy and bringing three of each?
Second row
This position looks far more straight forward, with one place looking to be up for grabs. Paul O’Connell, Iain Henderson and Devin Toner all look certain to be picked, leaving you with a straight scrap between Donnacha Ryan and Dan Touhy for the final spot.
Backrow
Again, this is a position where Ireland have had real consistency in selection.
The candidates; Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip, Jordi Murphy and Chris Henry may all get selected, but should one of the five pick up a knock, *touches wood*, who is next in line to make the step up?
Scrum half
Two decisions to make here for you.
The first is about quantity. Do you want to cover the bases and have three scrum-halves, or are you a risk-taker, and hoping one of your utility backs can fill in if needed?
If you’re bringing two, Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan look like the front-runners, but Isaac Boss and Kieran Marmion are also options.
The second question is about quality. If you’re bringing three, which of Marmion and Boss gets the nod?
Out half
Your only real problem here is the number. If you’ve filled up elsewhere, you may only have room for one of Ian Madigan or Paddy Jackson to act as back up to Johnny Sexton.
With both players a kicking option, as well as being able to fill in the centre, it’s likely both will be selected but you’re the boss, you’re the gaffer, whatever you say goes.
Centre/Wing/Full back
With so many of Ireland’s outside backs capable of playing across the backline, these positions are being grouped together.
The options; Robbie Henshaw, Jared Payne, Luke Fitzgerald, Keith Earls, Darren Cave, Gordon D’Arcy, Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe, Rob Kearney, Simon Zebo, Dave Kearney, Fergus McFadden, Craig Gilroy and Felix Jones.
Depending on where you’ve filled up or skimped on, you’ll have in the region of eight players left to choose from this group. Some of you may have more, while some may have less.
Give us your full 31-man squad that you would bring to the tournament, and justify those selections.
