THE ANNOUNCEMENT TOOK place in plush surroundings at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin’s city centre and yet it was low-key. There was no razzmatazz as team manager Mick Kearney read Ireland’s World Cup squad off a sheet of paper.
In fairness, this was in keeping with Andy Farrell’s Ireland. They’re not flashy and like to do their talking on the pitch whenever possible. We must also remember that they’d just had devastating news confirmed – Cian Healy was out of the World Cup.
He was the unfortunate one to miss out on account of Saturday’s final warm-up game against Samoa in Bayonne. Farrell told his players of his squad selection before that encounter, so it’s doubly cruel that Healy was cut down after having his place confirmed, not that it was in any doubt.
Jeremy Loughman is the beneficiary, having been a late addition to pre-season training, but it’s impossible not to feel for Healy. Cruelly, he goes onto a list that includes Geordan Murphy, David Wallace, Felix Jones, and Tommy O’Donnell. World Cup warm-up games are necessary but they’re an evil too. Injury there is always harder to stomach.
While Farrell left the door open for Healy potentially being an injury replacement later in the tournament, they move on without him. Last night, the Irish squad enjoyed returning home from France as they met family and friends, while today brings a busy schedule of World Cup admin. Photos, new gear, plenty more excitement.
They break up for a couple of nights after that, then regather on Thursday to fly out to their training base in Tours, the capital city of the Loire Valley. The World Cup is nearly upon us and Ireland’s settled squad go into it as contenders. It’s probably their hardest pool ever and a hugely testing quarter-final awaits if they advance, but they’re the number one side in the world and deserve to be viewed as among the favourites.
There was surely nothing in yesterday’s squad announcement to make the blood boil, even for the most irritable among us. It’s difficult to argue with Farrell’s 33-man selection to the point of it being a little on the dull side. Not that it’s a bad thing that the Ireland head coach had real clarity around who deserved to travel.
He probably could have picked this squad many months ago. While Connacht back row Cian Prendergast made a late charge and got good exposure in the first two warm-up games, any of the other back rows would have been desperately unlucky to miss out.
Ireland could have gone for a 19/14 split rather than their 18/15 but that would have meant leaving out someone like centre Stuart McCloskey, who has started eight of Ireland’s last 11 games, delivering some superb performances in that run.
Given that Ireland’s midfield has been an injury minefield and that Farrell has never deviated from 5/3 bench splits, often using a centre in the number 23 shirt, he didn’t want to leave himself short in the backs.
Farrell likes the flexibility that Tadhg Beirne and Ryan Baird give him in the back five of the scrum, covering second row and blindside flanker as they do. And it’s a similar story with Jimmy O’Brien, Keith Earls, and Jack Crowley in the backs. O’Brien can play 11, 13, 14, and 15. Earls covers both wings and outside centre. Crowley is an out-half but has shifted to fullback twice in the warm-up games and had a short stint in midfield too.
It’s worth stressing that McCloskey earned his spot and his is a great story. The Bangor man makes a World Cup squad for the first time at the age of 31. He was far from a schoolboy rugby star and was not mapped out as an Ulster prospect. McCloskey earned his stripes with Dungannon in the AIL and had to battle for a contract with his province.
Having been on the outside in Joe Schmidt’s tenure, it seemed like McCloskey was destined to be a peripheral figure under Farrell too but he exploded into an important role last season and deserves to go to the World Cup.
Some folk would point out that Ireland should have had Jean Kleyn in the mix for this World Cup but we’ve now seen why Ireland have been so excited about 22-year-old lock Joe McCarthy. His dynamism, energy, and size could be useful in France, while Kleyn has happily moved on to make the South Africa squad.
There are many Gavin Coombes supporters out there who wonder why he hasn’t had a look-in but that decision was made many weeks ago as Farrell included the Munster number eight in the first batch of squad cuts.
When you work through Farrell’s final squad on paper, there is cause for Irish optimism.
Of course, losing Healy is a big blow to the loosehead depth chart. His sheer experience was important and he was clearly the back-up to starter Andrew Porter. Healy also covered hooker, as we know from the Scotland game in this year’s Six Nations.
Dave Kilcoyne is the experienced option behind Porter now and is due to be fit after a recent hamstring injury. He’s still a powerful operator, while the thrice-capped Jeremy Loughman now gets a huge opportunity in Healy’s absence. He was ahead of Kilcoyne in Munster’s pecking order at the end of last season, so that will be an interesting tussle.
Otherwise, Farrell has been able to pick all the players he wanted to pick. Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher’s recovery from injury is going well so the hooker decisions ended up being straightforward, with Rob Herring completing the trio. Tom Stewart’s time will undoubtedly come.
Once he had shown he was still fast, fit and hungry after his injury issues last season, Keith Earls was a safe bet to travel. Jacob Stockdale hadn’t featured in the last couple of years so was always a long shot, while Ciarán Frawley has been desperately unlucky over the past year. It’s not that long ago that he was aiming for second spot in the out-half pecking order but injury ruined his momentum.
So it was that Farrell’s squad selection came with little controversy and no surprises. It would have been jarring if it was any other way given how calmly everything has been approach in his tenure.
He looks at this as a squad with a strong degree of experience, including three players – captain Johnny Sexton, Earls, and Conor Murray – who are heading to their fourth World Cups, but also a group full of the excitement of individuals going to their first. Indeed, 18 of this squad will be playing in the World Cup for the first time.
This Irish group have done some special things in the last two years and now they go to France dreaming of being history makers.
Good riddance to the warm-ups and bring on the World Cup.
