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Last Sunday’s game against Georgia gave Andy Farrell and the Irish coaching staff an opportunity to deepen their roster, bringing the number of players used in all three Fall Nations Cup games to date to 34. But the team announced Thursday afternoon for Saturday’s third-place playoff against Scotland at Aviva Stadium (kickoff at 2.15pm) will reflect their desire for Ireland to do their best.
The defeat at Twickenham and the display of the second half against the Georgians – “not good enough” admitted Farrell – force the head coach to select what he thinks is the best team in Ireland to win this match. Consequently, the initial XV is likely to see the return of Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Johnny Sexton, Cian Healy, Rónan Kelleher, and Caelan Doris.
Since James Lowe has been ruled out, the back three are likely to remain unchanged. Giving Jacob Stockdale a career as a fullback for both Ulster and Ireland was evidently a plan hatched during the hiatus and after seeing more flashes of his passing skills last week on his second test outing there last Sunday, the Irish coaches they can continue the experiment. for the culmination of this window in any case.
It would be no surprise to see the wings, Hugo Keenan and Keith Earls, remain in situ. Keenan has barely been wrong since he participated in test rugby as fluently as he did to be the first choice with Leinster since the restart, generating big pay and covering large amounts of ground in the backfield, and is now in line to begin. . all six Irish events since the restart, James Ryan style.
While Sexton and Henshaw got back in shape this week and it seems certain they will return, it is true that Chris Farrell has completed 80 minutes in all three games to date and is putting his name in midfield. But Aki, so far restricted to 80 minutes against England, would provide a fresher dimension as well as a proven partnership with Henshaw.
Jamison Gibson-Park also looks certain that he will return to Matchday 23 and possibly even start again, as he did against Wales and England, if Conor Murray’s dead leg against Georgia has limited his training this week. But otherwise, Murray has responded well to being named twice on the bench, both in the second half at Twickenham and in the first half against Georgia.
One always felt that Kelleher was off to some degree last week and that he has not been held responsible for the late lineout that led to Jonny May’s breakaway attempt the week before. Although Rob Herring made a perfect comeback last weekend of 16 pitches, the vast majority were not challenged, and Kelleher will most likely pack between his Leinster teammates Cian Healy and Andrew Porter.
Despite the vast potential of the Ryan-Iain Henderson second-row combination, it remains somewhat unsatisfied for one reason or another. The latter’s suspension and medical condition made last Sunday’s match just their third outing together since the World Cup, and only the 15th time overall. But they are still the front-line couple.
With the ball transport, distribution and strength of Doris on both sides of the ball cementing her place in the rear, one presumes that the six-day course change will likely count against Will Connors given the concussion that suffered against Georgia.
This, perhaps, avoids a difficult decision for Farrell and his teammates, as it means that both CJ Stander’s high volume of work and Peter O’Mahony’s athleticism, leadership and skills at the lineout can be accommodated between the forwards. loose, with the latter at ‘7’. . This was the combination that the Irish coaches left at Twickenham with and they might have been willing to visit again anyway.
With Ed Byrne out of the game, Finlay Bealham may well cover the loose head like he did at Twickenham, even more so after looking there against Georgia, with John Ryan covering the tight-headed side. Quinn Roux and Tadhg Beirne have apparently improved their credentials in the eyes of the coaches in this window and could cover the second row and the back row.
As Billy Burns has also been sidelined, Ross Byrne will resume his familiar role of covering Sexton from the bench, while anyone from Chris Farrell, Andrew Conway or Shane Daly could be asked to wear the number ’23’.
IRELAND (against Scotland, possible): J Stockdale; H Keenan, R Henshaw, B Aki, K Earls; J Sexton (captain), C Murray; C Healy, R Kelleher, A Porter; James Ryan, me Henderson; CJ Stander, P O’Mahony, C Doris. Replacements: R Herring, F Bealham, John Ryan, Q Roux, T Beirne, J Gibson-Park, R Byrne, C Farrell.
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