IRELAND ARE NOW just seven weeks away from their opening game of the World Cup against Romania in Bordeaux. In two weeks’ time, Andy Farrell’s men play their first warm-up match, with Italy visiting Dublin on 5 August. This is all starting to get real.
Ireland have just finished their fifth week of pre-season, breaking from camp for the next week to mentally refresh. The players will still train hard on their own or in small groups before regathering as a squad next weekend, but Farrell is determined not to make it all feel like too much of a trudge.
So Ireland have done two two-week blocks together so far, staying in Carton House and training at the IRFU’s high performance facility on the Sport Ireland Campus in Abbottstown. After each of those blocks, they’ve had a week out of camp.
When they return from this breather, they’re into a regular match week for the Italy fixture. They’ll spend the following week in Portugal, where they’re set to train against the Portuguese national team, before another match week in Dublin to prepare for a clash with England on 19 August.
Then it’s off to Biarritz for a week, culminating in their final warm-up game against Samoa in nearby Bayonne. After five more days back home in Ireland, Farrell’s final 33-man squad will fly out to their World Cup base camp in the city of Tours on 31 August.
Among the biggest jobs for Farrell is selecting that final 33-player group to travel to France. While the majority of his squad seems fairly straightforward to pick, there are a couple of selections that could go a few ways. Of course, the worrying spectre of injury hangs over the three warm-up games as always.
Having named a 42-man training squad for the summer, the Ireland boss has some whittling down to do. Fit-again Munster wing Andrew Conway recently joined that group for training, while Munster hooker Diarmuid Barron has also been into camp.
With the squad size at this World Cup going up to 33 from the previous 31, the obvious thinking is that coaches may no longer have to take risks by bringing only five props and two scrum-halves.
That’s what Ireland did at the last two tournaments. In 2015, out-half Ian Madigan was also the third-in-line at scrum-half, while Joey Carbery was tagged for that role in 2019. Tadhg Furlong was the versatile prop in 2015, while Andrew Porter was in that slot for 2019.
If Farrell wants to have three looseheads and three tightheads, then the six props he selected in his training squad will travel. Porter, Cian Healy, and Dave Kilcoyne at loosehead. Furlong, Finlay Bealham, and Tom O’Toole at tighthead.
That said, Healy has played some rugby at tighthead over the past year. Bealham has played at loosehead in the past, including once against Georgia in 2020. It’s hard to see Porter moving back to tighthead given his importance at loosehead now. If Farrell does opt to bring only five props, it obviously gives him more scope elsewhere.
At hooker, Dan Sheehan, Rónan Kelleher, and Rob Herring are the obvious three picks, even if Tom Stewart has huge potential.
Scrum-half is another spot where Farrell has had a settled trio in Jamison Gibson-Park, Conor Murray, and Craig Casey. If that continues, Caolin Blade will be left on standby. Like Stewart, he’s a high-quality reinforcement if required.
Farrell’s out-half pecking order of captain Johnny Sexton, Ross Byrne, and Jack Crowley also has a settled feel to it. The versatile Ciarán Frawley can play there too.
In midfield, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, and Garry Ringrose are nailed on and the question is whether Farrell brings a fourth centre. So at this stage, if Ireland do go with six props and three scrum-halves, we’re already up to 18 players. There are several more certainties to travel.
James Ryan, Iain Henderson, and Tadhg Beirne are locked in as second rows. So we’re up to 21. In the back row, Caelan Doris, Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, and Jack Conan are obvious picks. Now we’re up to 25. The first-choice back three of James Lowe, Hugo Keenan, and Mack Hansen take us up to 28. So we only have five spots left.
If we agree on the above, that leaves 12 players – Gavin Coombes, Ryan Baird, Cian Prendergast, Kieran Treadwell, Joe McCarthy, Frawley, Stuart McCloskey, Jamie Osborne, Keith Earls, Jimmy O’Brien, Jacob Stockdale, and Calvin Nash – vying for those five places.
Given his explosive abilities and the fact that he can cover the second row and blindside flanker, 23-year-old Baird looks like a good bet for inclusion. Farrell and co. will surely want at least one more back-five forward in their final squad, so Coombes, Treadwell, McCarthy, and Prendergast are part of the ferocious battle.
Treadwell played a notable role in last summer’s series success in New Zealand and has the dynamism that Farrell likes, while Coombes, McCarthy, and Prendergast are coming from a little further back in terms of Test experience. Yet all have enticing merits – Coombes in his relentlessness in the back row, McCarthy as a big, heavy lock, and Prendergast with lineout skills and mobility.
Baird could obviously go as the fourth lock, which would mean Treadwell and McCarthy missing out but Ireland being able to bring another out-and-out back row such as Coombes.
In the backs, meanwhile, O’Brien’s comfort at 11, 14, 15, and 13 proved useful in his first campaign with Ireland last autumn and he is the type of clever, flexible back that suits how they play, so he has a strong claim.
Earls’ return from injury for the final stages of Munster’s URC success was timely. He’s 35 now but is still sharp. Farrell is a huge fan of Earls the player and Earls the man, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see him included.
And what about the other spot in the 33-man group? Does Farrell bring a fourth out-and-out centre in McCloskey, who featured so frequently last season, or even the uncapped prospect Osborne? It would feel very harsh to leave McCloskey out after some fine performances in green recently but with Aki and Henshaw certainties, does Farrell need another 12?
Frawley must be a tempting wild card for Farrell. He can play at 10, 12, and 15, and has even covered 13 for Leinster. That ticks a lot of boxes in terms of training and when it comes to the games. He hasn’t been capped yet but would have made his debut last season if injury hadn’t prevented it.
Stockdale’s big left boot and power in contact are tempting, while Calvin Nash had his best season ever with Munster and clearly fits the Ireland mould for wide men.
One can argue the squad selection in any number of different ways, which is really the fun of it all for supporters and media. It might not seem as fun for those in the contest right now and there will be a big group of disappointed players left out.
