THE LAST TIME Tom Court trod onto a pitch in an Irish jersey he was soon driven sideways into his Ulster teammate Rory Best.
England’s Alex Corbisiero destroyed Court at the scrum as he came on for the injured tighthead Mike Ross after only 36 minutes.
Ireland lost 30-9 on a bleak St Patrick’s Day and our vulnerability at the vital scrummaging set-piece were once again lamented.
Court’s thumb injury meant he missed last summer’s tour to New Zealand but the introduction of an extra space on the replacements bench meant dual-role props were not in demand any more.
The Australian-born forward has been fit to play since August but, despite making it into the Irish training squads, Court has not made it close to a matchday.
Court has been played at loosehead for Mark Anscombe’s side this season but Munster’s Dave Kilcoyne seems to be the man Irish coach Declan Kidney has settled on as back-up to Cian Healy.
However, the 32-year-old has been in excellent form this season and has delivered man-of-the-match performances in wins over Leinster and Glasgow Warriors.
On 21 December, Court annihilated Leinster’s Jamie Hagan and Michael Bent, who was one of the props to earn an international call-up last November.
With the Irish Six Nations squad to be announced this week, should Court get another chance at international level?
Poll Results:
The Ireland squad will be announced on Wednesday afternoon and TheScore.ie will give you the latest squad news and reactions.
