WHEN WORLD RUGBY confirmed that the size of World Cup squads would be going up from 31 players to 33 for this year’s tournament, you could have been forgiven for thinking it would take most of the stress out of it.
The immediate thought was that coaches would find it much easier to make their picks with the extra two players, but it remains a fine balancing act. Andy Farrell won’t announce his Ireland squad until 28 August and has a few interesting decisions to finalise.
With six World Cup squads named at the time of writing, we’ve already seen a range of approaches to building 33-man squads. Among the big questions is whether to bring 19 forwards and 14 backs, or 18 forwards and 15 backs.
New Zealand have opted for an 18/15 split and one of the notable aspects of their squad is that they have only four locks, one of whom – Brodie Retallick – is carrying an injury into the tournament, and none of their five back rows are known as second row options, so that’s one potentially shallow area if they had another injury.
Many coaches have been weighing up whether to bring three or four centres, with New Zealand boss Ian Foster opting for four. That said, inside centre Jordie Barrett can also play fullback and outside centre Rieko Ioane has history on the left wing.
Going with 15 backs has meant the Kiwis being able to include four wings in Mark Telea, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Caleb Clarke, and Emoni Narawa, as well as fullback/wing Will Jordan. It’s also handy that one of their three listed out-halves, Beauden Barrett, is their starting fullback. There’s flexibility among the backs.
With three loosehead props, three tightheads, three hookers, and three scrum-halves, the All Blacks have depth in those specialist positions.
England, meanwhile, have gone for 19 forwards and 14 backs. Like New Zealand, they’ve picked nine front rows, so that means they have an additional back five player in the forwards. With George Martin and Courtney Lawes covering lock and the blindside flank, they have greater options in that area.
They’ve gone with three centres in Ollie Lawrence, Joe Marchant, and Manu Tuilagi but one of their three out-halves – Owen Farrell – could play at number 12 again, while versatile outside back Elliot Daly covers 13 as well as the wing and fullback.
South Africa have really thrown a cat among the pigeons with their squad. It’s a 19/14 split but they have taken a unique route to get there.
There are only five props, with Trevor Nyakane covering tighthead and loosehead. Five props was the norm before, but the sense was that squads going from 31 to 33 would see everyone bring six props to the World Cup. Not the Boks.
They’ve included just two hookers in Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi. 36-year-old back row Deon Fourie will also cover hooker and though he previously played primarily in the number two shirt, he hasn’t started a game there since 2018.
Perhaps the most eye-catching decision is to bring four scrum-halves in Faf de Klerk, Jaden Hendrikse, Cobus Reinach, and Grant Williams, who is expected to also cover the wing.
It could be that Hendrikse ends up playing a bit at out-half given the Boks have only brought two of those in Manie Libbok and Damian Willemse. Even at that, only Libbok is a full-time, out-and-out 10.
Handré Pollard’s absence through injury is a blow at number 10 but it’s worth noting that he, centre Lukhanyo Am, and second row Lood de Jager are all on the standby list and could be called up later if South Africa suffer injuries. It wouldn’t be a shock if at least one of them features in the World Cup. Rassie Erasmus is always plotting something.
As it is, the Springboks have a squad loaded with options in the back five of the scrum. Four pure second rows are supplemented by lock/blindside Franco Mostert and blindside/lock Pieter-Steph du Toit, then there are six other back row options including Fourie. With the Boks’ usual 6/2 bench split in mind, all that firepower should be handy. They might have picked relatively few front rows, but they’re world-class in that department.
There are only three centres, although Willemse can play at number 12 as well as fullback. The back three division includes frightening talent like Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse, and playmaker extraordinaire Wille le Roux. They’re short on goal-kicking quality if Pollard doesn’t make it back at some stage.
Fiji have gone for an 18/15 split and many of their backs can play in at least two positions. They’ve even been able to leave out exciting players like ex-All Blacks centre/wing Seta Tamanivalu and Castres midfielder Vilimoni Botitu such is their talent. There’s no room for experienced out-half Ben Volavola either.
Michael Cheika has opted for 18/15 in his Argentina squad, which includes some outstanding forwards and a group of backs who haven’t quite fired recently. The likes of Julián Montoya, Pablo Matera, and Marco are capable of leading immensely physical performances but the question is whether the Pumas can string big displays together.
Elsewhere, Samoa still have one player to add to their squad, having only named 32 at this stage. That’s made up of 18 forwards and 14 backs, so head coach Seilala Mapusua could go either way in a group co-captained by Leinster’s Michael Ala’alatoa.
We’ll have to wait another three weeks to find out exactly how Farrell has decided to split his squad. Of course, there is always the possibility of injuries ripping up his best-laid plans.
The fact that Jack Conan didn’t travel to Portugal for this week’s training camp due to the foot injury he sustained against Italy is obviously of big concern. Conan’s 2019 World Cup was cut short by a foot injury, so fingers are firmly crossed for him.
Farrell has options to go a few different ways with his squad. Andrew Porter, Cian Healy, and Finlay Bealham have experience on both sides of the front row, even if it still feels too risky to bring only five props.
Farrell has lock/blindside possibilities with Tadhg Beirne, Ryan Baird, and even Iain Henderson, while we saw Ireland successfully experimenting with Caelan Doris at number seven last weekend.
Among his out-half options are two versatile players in Jack Crowley and Ciarán Frawley. Crowley can play at 10, 12, and 15, while Frawley covers the same spots and has even been training at 13 with Ireland this summer.
A player like Jimmy O’Brien – who can play 11, 13, 14, and 15 – is also handy when it comes to putting a squad like this together.
If Farrell opts for 15 backs, the sense is that centre Stuart McCloskey could be the big winner, or perhaps Frawley. Going for 15 backs might also allow Farrell to bring an extra wing, which could work out well for Jacob Stockdale, Keith Earls, or Calvin Nash.
If the Ireland boss instead goes for 19 forwards, it would surely mean an extra player in the back five of the scrum. Gavin Coombes, Cian Prendergast, Joe McCarthy, or Kieran Treadwell could be the beneficiaries.
Farrell has indicated that he expects this World Cup to be more attritional than ever, meaning the standby players will be important. Indeed, that may be why he’s waiting so late to announce his squad – to keep everyone fully invested all the way through.
He seemingly expects to have to call on injury replacements and it’s only a short hop from Ireland to France. The standby players won’t be leaving their phones on silent.
Farrell has two more warm-up games to copperfasten his final decisions and it will be intriguing to see if he goes 19/14 or 18/15.
