Joe Schmidt's 45-man Ireland training squad contains two uncapped players, in prop, Tadhg Furlong and number eight Jack Conan, along with a familiar cast list that won't cause any furrowed brows, but it is the players that are missing that may commandeer the headlines.
The most unfortunate is Rhys Ruddock who sustained a fractured arm while leading Emerging Ireland in Georgia and has been ruled out of the World Cup.
Schmidt explained: “Rhys Ruddock would have been selected but has been ruled him out after fracturing his arm against Uruguay last week.”
The hefty size of the panel numerically ensures that the disappointment of being overlooked will be more acute. Munster's Ian Keatley was the starting outhalf for Ireland in their most recent Six Nations Championship victory over Italy in Rome, kicking 14 points, when winning his fourth cap but he is not named here.
Schmidt has included Jonny Sexton, Ian Madigan and Paddy Jackson and barring injury they’re likely to be retained when the squad is culled to the 31 players permissible under the rules of the World Cup.
That list has to be with the tournament organisers by Sunday, September 6th but Schmidt will declare his hand in terms of the final squad composition in the preceding week, one that coincides with Ireland’s final World Cup warm-up match against England at Twickenham on Saturday, September 5th.
Disappointment is not Keatley’s alone. Ulster centre Luke Marshall and team-mate Robbie Diack both played for Ireland against the Barbarians last month, while others like Mike McCarthy, Stephen Archer, James Cronin, Dominic Ryan and Rodney Ah You have all worn the green within the last two years.
Schmidt explained: “The squad selection has been a long process with some very tight decisions. Some injured players who are getting close to full fitness have been included while others have missed out due to prolonged absence or lack of opportunity to demonstrate their full Test match readiness.”
Cian Healy, Marty Moore and Andrew Trimble are all expected to have rehabilitated fully ahead of Ireland's opening warm-up match against Wales at the Millennium stadium on Saturday, August 8th.
Match fitness
Unfortunately for Munster secondrow Dave Foley, who damaged a wrist in January, he has no competitive outlet to hone his match fitness after such a long layoff. Donnacha Ryan and
Dan Tuohy
have held off the challenge of Leinster’s McCarthy.
In different circumstances a little wriggle room might have been found to introduce John Cooney, playing as well as any Irish scrumhalf over the last three months of the season and also at the Tbilisi Cup. His team-mate Kieran Marmion is named as the fourth scrumhalf.
The Ireland coach travelled to Georgia to watch Ireland’s final game in the competition against the host nation and the presence of centre Noel Reid, hooker Rob Herring and Conan in the extended senior panel will have been partially attributable to their performances in the tournament.
Schmidt is very familiar with the qualities the 25-year-old Reid brings to the role of inside centre having coached the former St Michael’s College schoolboy when he was in charge at Leinster.
Distribution skills
Reid, who won his only cap for Ireland when coming on as a replacement in the secondTest against Argentina last summer, is noted for his distribution skills – he played outhalf at school – and the fact that he offers nuance and subtlety might get him an opportunity in the pre World Cup warm-up Tests.
He is a different style of player to Gordon D’Arcy, Robbie Henshaw and Darren Cave, when the latter has been tried in the number 12 jersey. There is massive competition for the back three places in the backline, so getting opportunities in August will be crucial.
But there will be very few in the squad who’ll feel they have little chance of squeezing into the World Cup squad.
In that respect Schmidt and his coaching team of Les Kiss, Simon Easterby, Greg Feek and Richie Murphy has been both fair and consistent in selection. The New Zealander has presided over an Ireland team that has won successive Six Nations Championships titles in 2014 and 2015 and lies third in the world rankings.
His attention to detail is well documented so in assembling this 45-man squad he has identified the style that he wants to play and those players who are most capable of implementing it. There may be one or two players through injury or circumstances who come through but it’s a long way to travel from outside the panel.
