There is certainly an exciting look to the Irish team named to play Wales on Saturday, but is it the right one? Two JOEs argue the case…
Declan Whooley says… with all the talk recently of captaincy issues and Jonny Sexton’s departure for France, the focus on the starting XV for the opening Six Nations encounter has not been as intense as previous years. It arrived in a low key manner and the reaction has been similar, primarily because Declan Kidney has got the calls right.
When you look at the line-up, there are always one or two close calls, but with the task at hand to tame the Welsh dragon at Cardiff, it is the best team available to Kidney and one that should have the Welsh staring down the barrel of an eighth successive defeat.
When it comes down to it, there were only a couple of positions really up for grabs, so let’s take a look at those first. The choice of wingers was always going to be an intriguing battle with Tommy Bowe out injured, coming down in reality to a five-way battle for two slots.
Andrew Trimble can feel aggrieved not to have made the initial squad – more on him later – while as for Fergus McFadden, Kidney admitted he was unlucky to miss out, with Keith Earls getting the final place on the bench.
Simon Zebo and Craig Gilroy offer a real attacking threat and a back-three with Rob Kearney gives a real sense of excitement. Zebo has been electric for Munster this season and was impressive when playing full-back for Ireland in the Autumn Series, where Gilroy covered himself in glory.
The two speedsters may have just four caps between them and detractors can rightfully point out that Zebo has yet to be fully tested defensively and Gilroy has struggled to break into the Ulster team, but we should be rejoicing that the management team have thrown caution to the wind and given youth its chance. France are no strangers to this policy in most years, and it worked out pretty well for Wales with Alex Cuthbert and George North last year.
They will be given stern tests this Saturday, but you have to credit Kidney for making the call. We are all quick to criticise when he chooses the status quo.
As already mentioned, Trimble has again been the fall guy and his omission from the training squad after the Wolfhounds game was puzzling as he offers a physical and scoring threat. Whatever about a starting spot, a place on the bench would have been expected in many quarters.
The other talking point was the omission of Chris Henry in the back row. He has been hugely impressive in an Ulster pack that has been on the front foot all season and can rightly count himself unfortunate not to start. But when you look closely at the call, you can easily see Kidney’s logic.
Wales are desperately short of second rows and are lacking the number of ball carriers that the Irish pack possesses. In Sam Warburton they have an out-and-out seven, a scavenger who, despite a lull in form, is a force to be reckoned with. His understudy Justin Tipuric would probably make any of the other Six Nations starting teams.
Kidney has decided to target the line-out and bring his ball carrying backrowers to the fore. Both second rows are comfortable with ball in hand, while Peter O’Mahony’s inclusion will add to the lineout options. Sean O’Brien at openside will keep his opposite number honest while he is no stranger to the graft required for the role.
The pack looks strong, though an injury to Mike Ross could easily bring the deck of cards down. The front row all have justifiable claims to be on the plane to Australia in the summer, while Donncha Ryan and Mike McCarthy had a very impressive Autumn Series. McCarthy, in particular, showed what a loss he will be to Connacht.
Our centre partnership will be reunited for a record 48th time and D’Arcy, in particular, has been one of Leinster’s most consistent performers.
The half-back partnership is Ireland’s best out-half paired with the scrum-half destined for a long future in a green jersey. Often described as an under-performing partnership, they will dictate the pace of the game from an Irish perspective.
Eoin Reddan can feel disappointed, but he will come off the bench and one feels Kidney prefers to spring him with 20 minutes to go to freshen things up. Murray will offer the more physical approach at the base of the scrum and against a big Welsh unit, this could be just the tonic.
The bench selection is a little less inspiring and if we are in need of a spark should we fall a few points behind, our options are thin on the ground. Conversely, should we enter the final quarter with a lead, there is more than enough experience on the bench to hopefully see the game out.
Hindsight is a great thing, but in this make-or-break game, Kidney has given himself the best possible chance of an away win.
Conor Heneghan says… Declan Kidney likes surprises as much as that poor bishop who Dougal scared the life out of in Father Ted and as such, the team he named for the clash against Wales was mostly along predictable lines.
To be frank about it, with trusted lieutenants O’Connell, Ferris and Bowe sidelined, the majority of the team picked itself, with the only real points of contention coming in the back row and the back three.
Still, it is the little details that win and lose matches and we can only hope that Declan Kidney isn’t looking back with regret on a couple of crucial selection calls come the final whistle on Saturday afternoon.
Whether he likes it or not, Kidney has always been regarded as a conservative coach and given the amount of criticism he has shipped for a somewhat safe approach over the years, it is perhaps unfair that he should take flak for throwing caution to the wind a little bit with the team he’s selected to take to the field in the Millenium Stadium this weekend.
It’s hard not to get excited about a back three of Kearney, Zebo and Craig Gilroy, how could you not?
Kearney, as he’s done in the past, has made such an impressive comeback from injury that you would truly doubt whether he was hurt at all in the first place, Zebo is arguably the most dangerous Irish player around at the moment and everyone remembers what Craig Gilroy brought to the party against Argentina in November.
Since then, however, Gilroy has found it hard to shift Andrew Trimble from the Ulster team and Trimble really is the fall guy here. As far as we can see, he has done absolutely nothing wrong and while he is not quite as electric as Gilroy, he’s very fast, very powerful, great under the high ball and most importantly as far as this weekend is concerned, is an excellent defender.
Wales are on the back of a rotten autumn and the likes of Alex Cuthbert and George North have been in better form, but we shouldn’t forget that we have to go Cardiff and we haven’t beaten Wales in yonks, nor should we forget the damage caused by some of the Wales backs, particularly North and Jonathan Davies, at the Aviva last season.
I suspected that Kidney would have gone with a horses for courses selection and opted for Trimble ahead of his provincial team-mate, especially away from home, as the big Welsh backs will be looking to run down Gilroy’s throat at every possible opportunity. The young winger is not lacking in balls, however, and if he comes through this test unscathed it will do him the world of good.
As for the back-row, the selection of O’Mahony, O’Brien and Heaslip looks well on paper, but it could be argued that it is not fit for purpose. The amount of praise that has gone in the direction of Sam Warburton has been ridiculous at times and although a man who was once a shoo-in for the Lions captaincy has gone off the boil lately, he is still brilliant on the deck.
To counter Warburton’s effectiveness, Kidney should have gone with Chris Henry, a far more natural openside flanker and in the form of his life with Ulster this season, at 7, freeing up O’Brien to do what he does best and occupy the Welsh defence with some of those inspirational ball-carries.
Again, that’s not to say that Peter O’Mahony isn’t capable of a huge display, the man is certainly not lacking in character and has future Munster and Ireland captain written all over him, but a back row with O’Brien at 6 and Henry at 7 seems far more balanced as far as I can see.
One could also argue that Keith Earls is unlucky to be cast aside, that Eoin Reddan has a more natural understanding with Jonathan Sexton than Conor Murray and that Donncha O’Callaghan’s recent form should have led to a spot in the second row, but the inclusion of Gilroy and the make-up of the back row are the ones most likely to have a telling effect.
It might be only nit-picking and focussing too much on the little things, but this time last year Ireland lost by two points to Wales and went on to endure another ultimately disappointing campaign while their counterparts went on to Grand Slam success. So yes, the little things matter.
We sincerely hope that history doesn’t repeat itself this weekend.
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