THERE’S A LOT of rugby to be played between now and 22 September. A lot of form to hit dips and peaks, tonnes of players to be tackled, heaps of rucks to be hit, more injuries than we’d like to imagine and an innumerable crucial little details to get right in the final days of the Joe Schmidt era.
Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO
Still, no harm in us having a wee peak at what way Ireland could/should line up when the World Cup campaign kicks off against Scotland.
Sean Farrell
I haven’t necessarily picked the strongest team, but a team to meet Scotland. That means I’ve favoured mobility and dynamism when trying to tip the balance of one player over another. It could be a different story for a possible quarter-final meeting with South Africa or New Zealand.
So with that in mind, I think opening night at the World Cup will be an ideal stage for Tadhg Beirne to flex his muscles in green and, first game up, I would lean towards Sean Cronin and save a 37-year-old Rory Best for later tests in the tournament.
Most of the team picks itself, with major competition for the midfield and openside slots.
Bundee Aki up against Blair Kinghorn in the 2018 Six Nations. Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO
For this clash, the handling and line-breaking ability of Bundee Aki and Chris Farrell would be a tall order for Scotland to deal with in midfield defence.
In the seven shirt then, I’m just a Tullow Tank loyalist. Through good times and bad for Ireland, Sean O’Brien has continually been among our world class performers, a gamechanger of the highest order.
15. Rob Kearney
14. Keith Earls
13. Chris Farrell
12. Bundee Aki
11. Jacob Stockdale
10. Jonathan Sexton
9. Conor Murray
1. Cian Healy
2. Sean Cronin
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Tadhg Beirne
5. James Ryan
6. Peter O’Mahony
7. Sean O’Brien
8. CJ Stander
Murray Kinsella
The unfortunate reality of professional rugby means that Joe Schmidt is almost certainly not going to have an entirely full deck of fit players to choose his World Cup squad from, but let’s pretend that won’t be the case for this exercise.
With Ireland’s closing two pool fixtures coming against Russia and Samoa, Schmidt is likely to be able to chop and change front-liners in those games.
Scotland are a major threat in Ireland’s opener, while the meeting with hosts Japan the following weekend is also very dangerous. With that in mind, Schmidt is likely to frontload for the two opening games and attempt to start with a bang.