Heaslip likely to return for Ireland against Wales

Whisper it quietly, but there are shades of 2009 in the way Ireland have enjoyed such a relatively low injury profile and settled squad this season.

Admittedly one key difference will be that Joe Schmidt is unlikely to make several selection switches in the penultimate game of the championship, but rather restore Jamie Heaslip to an otherwise unchanged line-up.

Heaslip, typically, has made a remarkable and swifter than forecast recovery from the three cracked vertabrae he suffered courtesy of Pascal Papé’s knee in the win over France three weekends ago. Although Jordi Murphy’s work-rate and numbers were excellent in the win over England, Schmidt will surely opt to restore such an experienced big game player for such a big game.

In the previous seven Six Nations campaigns until this season, Heaslip has missed only one match out of 35, namely the opening win in Rome in 2011.

In another link with 2009, Ireland signed off their campaign with wins in Murrayfield and the Millennium Stadium, albeit the other way around, and Heaslip is in line to be one of only four surviving starters from the starting line-up when Ireland completed the Slam with that nerve-shredding 17-15 win – the others being Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe and Paul O’Connell (while Rory Best was a replacement that day).

Another uncomfortable reprise of that day will be the presence of Wayne Barnes as referee.

Additional week

With Seán O’Brien and Jared Payne having had an additional week to recover from the concussion they suffered against England, and

Johnny Sexton

also having had an extra week to recover from a hamstring injury which may, or may not, have been a grade one tear, the rest of the team is expected to stay intact.

That they all seemingly took a fairly full part in training this week, and thus should be as well prepared as you’d expect of a Schmidt team, is an added bonus.

Desperately unlucky

The net effect is likely to see Murphy revert to the bench, as was the case against France, with the desperately unlucky

Tommy O'Donnell

again missing out on the match 23 altogether – as was the case against France.

Called in as a late starter in Rome when O’Brien was hamstrung in the warm-up, O’Donnell was outstanding in his breakdown work and all-round carrying and tackling, as well as scoring a fine try. He was Ireland’s joint-leading tackler against France as a 25th-minute replacement for O’Brien.

But somebody has to miss out, and while O’Donnell has played across the Munster backrow, unfortunately he’s also become a specialist openside whereas Murphy retains more of a utility tag.

All in all therefore, if the team is along expected lines at lunchtime today, this will be the same XV as that which faced up to the French at kick-off in the Aviva in round two, with Schmidt thus far obliged to start only 18 players in four games.

Injury enforced

The trio of amendments from a notional first-choice XV have all been injury enforced, with Murphy, O’Donnell and Ian Keatley replacing Heaslip, O’Brien and Sexton against Italy, and Murphy coming back into the side for the out of action Heaslip against England.

In addition to Keatley, Robbie Diack and Isaac Boss have also been on the bench, and so Schmidt will have used only 26 players in entirety over the first four games.

A dozen of the starting line-up have been ever presents, namely the frontrow, secondrow, midfield and back three, with the same frontrow, secondrow, outhalf and outside back replacements on the bench as well.

They’ve all had to perform some to hold onto their places, not least Simon Zebo, on whom there would have been long odds up until this season on him retaining a starting place ahead of the in-form pair of Luke Fitzgerald and Keith Earls.

O'Connell will be in line to lead out his team on the occasion of his 100th Test match for Ireland, having made a try-scoring debut at home to Wales, in what may or may not be the penultimate Six Nations game of his illustrious career. Like much else ahead of this weekend, what the future holds for him and Ireland remains up in the air.

Ireland (possible v Wales): R Kearney; Bowe, Payne, Henshaw, Zebo; Sexton, Murray; McGrath, Best, Ross, Toner, O'Connell (capt), O'Mahony, O'Brien, Heaslip. Replacements: Healy, Cronin, Moore, Henderson, Murphy, Reddan, Madigan, Jones.