PETER O’MAHONY’S CHANCES of featuring in Ireland’s final Test of this three-match series is looking decidedly better today than it did on Saturday, after the Munster captain passed his head injury assessment (HIA) test2 earlier this morning.
It means O’Mahony, who had his best game of the season in Ireland’s 23-12 win over the All Blacks on Saturday, is in a similar scenario this week to the one Johnny Sexton went through seven days ago. Then, Sexton failed his initial head injury assessment during the first Test match at Eden Park before passing his subsequent two HIAs.
There is an element of confusion about the procedure to ascertain whether a player has suffered a concussive injury, in that he can fail the immediate HIA test but can still pass the subsequent two tests which frees him up to continue training and playing.
Often this is because medics err on the side of caution when they make their initial assessment – believing a safety first strategy is the best policy.
O’Mahony will undergo a third HIA test tomorrow. If he passes that then he will be free to play in Wellington this weekend. “He passed his HIA 2 so he has his HIA3 to go. He is fine otherwise,” said Andy Farrell, the Ireland coach.
Before all that, though, there is another game to prepare for, the fourth of this tour, and the second of their two dates with the Maori All Blacks (tomorrow, kick-off 8.05am, Sky Sports).
With injuries mounting – Iain Henderson, Dave Henderson, James Hume, Harry Byrne, Garry Ringrose are all unavailable – Farrell has had to ask some players to double job between the midweek team and the Test side. And yet he has repeatedly said that this is exactly what he was hoping for, this need to prepare for next year’s World Cup in the toughest environment possible.
With this in mind, he has opted for a largely inexperienced side, containing a dozen players who have fewer than seven caps in his starting XV. Five of those are uncapped. Keith Earls will captain them.
“It gave me a lot of pleasure asking Keith to do the job,” said Farrell. “He is a proud man and he has always been a leader, Keith, especially over the last five or six years that I have known him. He has always been curious about how he can learn more, such as edge defence or back three play in general.
“More than that he has always been one who has been able to take people with him, always one who wants to share and help. That has been at the forefront of his attitude for the time I have known him and he will bring all that to the forefront on Tuesday night.”
Building a squad harmony is an underrated skill in sport – especially in an age where people obsess about tactics. Farrell, however, places a big emphasis on it, stemming from near three decades operating at the elite end of rugby, either as a player or a coach.
“For the likes of Keith, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, well everyone really, their attitudes have been top class,” he said.
“Right from the start, there has only been one thing on their mind and that is, ‘how can we help the team mates, how can we make the fellas who are starting ahead of them better?’ There is no more deserving man to captain Ireland against the Maoris than Keith.”
The remainder of the side sees Jeremy Loughman return after his concussive injury in the first match of this tour; he starts alongside Niall Scannell and Tom O’Toole in the front row. Kieran Treadwell, a player who has made a deep impression on Farrell on this tour, is in at lock, alongside Joe McCarthy. Cian Prendergast, Nick Timoney and Gavin Coombes complete the backrow.
At half-back, Craig Casey and Ciaran Frawley provide a Munster/Leinster combo; with Stuart McCloskey and Earls selected in midfield and Mike Lowry, Jimmy O’Brien and Jordan Larmour picked in the back three.
Six of the eight replacements – Rob Herring, Finlay Bealham, Jack Conan, Joey Carbery, Conor Murray and Mack Hansen – played a part in Saturday’s game. The remaining replacements are Ryan Baird and Ed Byrne.
The Ireland line up to face the Māori All Blacks on Tuesday night is here! ✊
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) July 11, 2022
Keith Earls will captain the side at Sky Stadium in Wellington ⬇️#TeamOfUs | #MABvIRE
“This, as we have been saying all along, is an opportunity to grow the group,” said Farrell, “a chance for the guys who have had to wait two weeks for another chance, this is another opportunity to show us how much they have improved.”
Responsibility weighs on them. The mood in camp is higher than ever and a second victory in four days on New Zealand soil would strengthen it further.
“Well, the chat after the game was about creating a little bit of history but the biggest feeling that I got from it was that we are also pleased to keep the series alive. We have dusted ourselves down and had a good meeting this morning; the mood is one of, we did okay, but we can do better.”
Certainly those who played – and lost 32-17 a couple of weeks ago – feel they have a point to prove, although Farrell was accurate in his assessment that it’s noticeably different when young players are in a minority in a team as opposed to making up the majority of the starting XV.
“When you put two or three kids into a good side, say the Test side, everyone gets dragged along but when you put a lot of inexperienced players together, then cohesion is very hard to come by.
“Look, they have had two weeks to learn those lessons, be more disciplined, and to make sure they understand what it takes to win a big game. This certainly is big for them.”
IRELAND v Māori All Blacks
15. Michael Lowry (Ulster/Banbridge) 1 cap
14. Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 30 caps
13. Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 97 caps CAPTAIN
12. Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 6 caps
11. Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas) uncapped
10. Ciaran Frawley (Leinster/Skerries) uncapped
9. Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 5 caps
1. Jeremy Loughman (Munster/Garryowen) uncapped
2. Niall Scannell (Munster/Dolphin) 20 caps
3. Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 2 caps
4. Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin) uncapped
5. Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena) 7 caps
6. Cian Prendergast (Connacht) uncapped
7. Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge) 2 caps
8. Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster) 2 caps
Replacements
16. Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 27 caps
17. Ed Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 6 caps
18. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 24 caps
19. Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 8 caps
20. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 29 caps
21. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 98 caps
22. Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 34 caps
23. Mack Hansen (Connacht) 5 caps