Ireland are short of front row options but should newcomer Michael Bent have been parachuted straight into the squad for the Autumn series? Two JOEs add to the debate.
Declan Whooley says… Michael Bent has found himself in the eye of a storm over the last week as the media and public alike have discussed the morality of the Kiwi hopping off a plane and training with Ireland before ever having met his club colleagues.
While it is not the ideal scenario, it does allow Declan Kidney to bolster his front row options.
Last March in Twickenham was a bleak day in Irish rugby. Mike Ross was forced off injured and the dearth of front row forwards was exposed in the most brutal fashion. Tom Court was the scapegoat, but the problems ran much deeper.
If you asked any Irish fan would they mind if the IRFU tapped into the overseas market to shore up the problem, the answer would have been a resounding no. Ironically, it is the overseas players that have been deemed the root of our current problems.
This summer was another example of Irish issues in the front row. Ronan Loughney and Declan Fitzpatrick made their international bows on the tour of New Zealand, hardly the easiest of environments to come into. Though it has to be said our starting front row in the 60-0 drubbing was Healy, Best and Ross.
The dog on the street is aware that our options are limited. Our provinces have taken to heavy foreign investment in this area, which has not helped on the international front.
If you were in Declan Kidney’s shoes you would do anything in your powers to add quality to your squad. That is exactly what he is attempting to do by bringing in a man with Super XV experience that qualifies for Ireland.
Bent may not prove to be any better than the players at Kidney’s disposal, but it would be remiss of him not to at least find out. The same people criticising Kidney now will be those most vocal if the scrum falters again in the Autumn Series and Six Nations.
The manner in which Bent landed on the plane and went straight into the squad was unfortunate, and the player himself will have to work hard to impress players he has never even met before. Some sections of the media have stated that it undermines the value of an Irish cap if he can play without ever having played for his province.
But that is not his problem. He has been given an opportunity and should he grasp it with both hands and give our pack more strength and quality, then this will quickly be forgotten.
As much as you want to see people work hard and earn their international colours, we are unfortunately not in a strong enough position to turn down a player in such circumstances.
Bent is in the unenviable position of having to prove himself as international class immediately and being thrown in at the deep end will certainly tell us a lot about the man’s credentials.
We may never have heard of him before, but you don’t play for a team like the Hurricanes for nothing. He may have just eleven appearances, but the 26 year-old has earned his crust with Taranaki.
As I said, the way in which it has transpired has not been what Ireland, or most likely Bent himself, would have wanted, but it has and now it’s time to see if we have found ourselves a real player.
Conor Heneghan says… through entirely no fault of his own, Michael Bent is the subject of far more attention than any potential debutant would want to be or even should be in the run-up to a clash against one of the top sides in world rugby this weekend.
The 26-year old prop had barely landed on Irish soil before he was being whisked straight from the airport to the Irish training camp and into a hackneyed photo-shoot that has been used – symbolically as well as metaphorically in this case considering he was carrying a hurley – as a stick to beat him with since.
But the fact that it’s not his fault doesn’t mean that there is nothing the matter here.
As Keith Wood argued so passionately on Off the Ball last week: “How in the name of Jesus are we getting to the point where a guy flies into the country and he will play for Ireland?
“It can’t be, it can’t be, that easy to play for Ireland as to get onto a flight and fly into the country. It can’t be. I find it wrong.”
And I’d be inclined to agree. This isn’t anything against the use of imports in an Irish team or exploiting the ‘Granny rule’ as Jack Charlton did so famously during his reign as Irish football manager, not at all.
Hell, if Isa Nacewa hadn’t made that one ill-advised appearance for Fiji at the 2003 World Cup and could suddenly be made available for Ireland (provided the All-Blacks wouldn’t get there first, of course), I’d get a green jersey on him faster than you can say Dion O’Cuinneagain.
In the same vein, I will have no problem when Richardt Strauss is named at hooker to face his native country on Saturday. Other nations have ruthlessly exploited residency, granny and all sorts of eligibility rules and if Ireland don’t do likewise we will be left behind, particularly considering the depth of our playing pool in relation to other countries.
No, it’s the circumstances in this case which leave a bad taste in the mouth. Yes, Ireland are seriously short of front-row options and one only has to look at the number of foreign props currently holding up the scrums for all four provinces as evidence of that, but have we come to a point where someone can just be parachuted in the squad against a side as good as South Africa?
And although they’re not exactly experienced, there are alternatives. Connacht’s Ronan Loughney or Munster’s Stephen Archer (who has now been called up), for instance. He hasn’t played for Ireland in over a year and has flattered to deceive every time he has but even Tony Buckley represents an option.
Bent arrives in Ireland on the back of fairly glowing reviews about his contributions for Taranaki and the Hurricanes and will have been closely watched by Greg Feek, who has contributed to notable improvements in the scrum in his time with the Irish set-up, so he’s obviously got good pedigree, but now is not the time to test it.
Let him find his feet with Leinster between now and the Six Nations – he should get plenty of game time with Mike Ross involved with Ireland during November – and if he proves himself to be good enough between now and then, by all means then introduce him into the national squad.
If Michael Bent does play for Ireland on Saturday, I will wish him all the best and hope that he goes on to have a long and distinguished career with Ireland. I just wish the circumstances surrounding his introduction were a little different.
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