Rugby News round-upAutumn is here and Ireland have a scrumhalf crisis. Dress it up anyway you like but the Test number nines over the past four years are all on the treatment table. That's 86 absent caps ahead of the arrival of New Zealand, Australia and Romania.
Peter Stringer's knee may heal in time but Guy Easterby is a write off with a broken jaw, leaving the gate wide open for Kieran Campbell and his new rival in Ulster, Kiwi cum Irishman, Isaac Boss.
Irish rugby is about to discover just how thin the reserves are in this specialist position.
For Eddie O'Sullivan it's the same problem as last year, except scrumhalf headache has replaced the centre variety.
"We just have to go with the pecking order as it stands," he said. "Peter Stringer might be back but it's pretty clear Guy won't be. Kieran Campbell was the number three choice in the summer so we will just see how the next few weeks pan out with the Heineken Cup.
"We got to pick the form guys really."
There are positives elsewhere. The World Cup countdown pretty much starts on November 12th at Lansdowne Road when the All Blacks attempt to individually tear apart the four nations they collectively mauled in the summer.
Again, this is not the way O'Sullivan believes his job should be viewed. "You can say you are building for the World Cup so it doesn't matter what happens in the autumn but we are still going in to win three Tests. You can't go out with an experimental side because we are working to the World Cup. It's not practical at this level.
"You got to try and walk two tight wires. The tight wire of winning Test games and tight wire of building your squad for the World Cup. It's a slow process so it depends on how quickly the young players put their hands up and break on to the scene.
"There have been a few this year. Guys like Andrew Trimble wouldn't have been mentioned six months ago but he is making a big impact with Ulster. I don't know if he will come through this year but he is putting his hand up after not even being on the radar screen. A few guys did well out in Japan as well.
"The big test for him and any player is can this form be sustained into the Heineken Cup? That is the real test and the players know that."
Then there is the obvious negative of three weeks' pre-season disappearing. It wasn't the Lions tour but the need to give provinces increased face time with their players due to the Celtic League becoming a qualifer for Europe which meant 10 weeks' preparation became seven and a trip to the ice chambers of Spala, Poland, was shelved.
"No it's not ideal. We set our standards at 10 last year and it did cause problems, no doubt, in terms of the players getting back to their provinces. This year, certainly, with the emphasis on the Celtic League being a qualifier for Europe there was a lot of pressure on the provinces so we had to release the players back a little bit early. So we have compromised ourselves in terms of preparation."
In contrast, the All Blacks have two seven-week pre-seasons in place for both winter and summer to ensure their elite will be at optimum level come France 2007. One essential Irish squad session will be five days of warm weather training during Christmas week.
Brian O'Brien's retirement has left O'Sullivan and Niall O'Donovan doing the three-man job of taking in the increased numbers of Irish plying their trade in the English Premiership. The players help as they send tapes of their Premiership matches.
"I was actually over in Leicester a couple of weeks ago and we are also getting a lot of the games over on tape from players," O'Sullivan added.
"But I was at the game last weekend between Leinster and Ulster, and I was watching the bones of 10 or 12 of the national team.
"It's a very long trip over to Leicester or Bath to watch maybe two or three players when you can get a lot of them in one game.
"Still, we have to keep doing it and keep an eye on everyone."
