THE THINKING HAD been that Darren Cave was Ireland’s back-up choice at inside centre, but with a hamstring strain preventing Robbie Henshaw from featuring in the World Cup opener against Canada tomorrow, Luke Fitzgerald has stepped in.
The Leinster man has provincial and international experience in the 12 shirt, and has played often played at 13, but it was a surprise nonetheless given the presence of Cave in the Ireland squad.
“We were thinking we don’t have a massive amount of midfield cover and so we were planing to give Luke another game in the midfield or give Keith Earls a game in the midfield this week,” said Joe Schmidt of the decision.
When we decided to put Keith on the wing it was a good opportunity to get Luke involved.
“We know Darren can do it already, so we’re not really too panicked about Darren having the time there. I thought he played really well in that first Wales away game (in August). He found the pace entirely different two weeks ago at Twickenham and that was a learning experience for him as well.”
The loss of Henshaw is, of course, a concern for Ireland, although Schmidt has stated that he is quietly confident the Connacht centre will return for his side’s second pool game against Romania on Sunday week.
Of the 22-year-old’s hamstring issue, Schmidt said “there was a little bit of blood but there was no separation. There is nothing major there.”
The fact that Henshaw only picked up the strain at training on Tuesday is also bothersome for Schmidt, given that he only likes to start players who have carried out a full week’s training in their specific starting position.
It is unfortunate that we lost him and losing him at the end of training on Tuesday just means that to blood Luke in was necessary to do that on a reasonably short time-frame,” said Schmidt.
“But he had already run in there a few times through the pre-World Cup Test matches, therefore he slotted in well. He is a player that I’ve had playing 12 in the past and have had confidence in.”
Along with the disruption, there is also the disappointment that Henshaw will not get a chance to burst into World Cup action in Ireland’s opening game.
“I think you all saw the progress Robbie made in the Six Nations and how valuable he became,” said Schmidt. “I think in that England game he showed elements of what he was capable off.
“He was involved in 37 tackles in the first two games and then he won that ball in the air in the England game as well as breaking the line on a set play and getting through a lot of tackles as well.
Then in the Welsh game he learned a lot, playing against the likes of Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies, they were the Lions midfield pairing.
“While there was an expectation for our guys to do well, I thought he and Jared did really well and I thought he was really good against Scotland. That sort of progress we were hoping would continue on a similar gradient.”
