Although changes are sure to be minimal, the Irish coaching staff may just have had a little more discussion than might have seemed likely after their victory over France. Specifically, in addition to the enforced change in the backrow, there is the scope for changes in an increasingly competitive frontrow.
Cian Healy, who at his best is worthy of the term world-class, is inching back to fitness, while there is also the decidedly mixed bag of Irish scrums against their English counterparts, both at Test level and in the European Champions Cup this season.
Not that the coaching staff would be inclined to reveal as much. In contrast to England's higher profile this week, Ireland would seemingly prefer to say nothing all week before turning up anonymously for the 3pm kick-off at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, perhaps through the tradesman's entrance.
Good history
So it is that cricket, tennis et al have led sports news bulletins in the week of an Ireland-
England
summit meeting, and as they go into their second ‘down day’ of the week today, one ventures that the observations of
Leinster
scrum coach Marco Caputo regarding Cian Healy’s previous good history with
Dan Cole
, as another reason for starting him, would not have gone down well with the Irish management.
As if to prove the point, Simon Easterby said of that: “Whatever is said outside this environment, we can’t control,” before adding: “Cian has played a number of games now and is getting back up to speed. He’s probably recovered far quicker than anyone expected. He’s in great shape for someone who has been out for so long. He’s desperate to get back in the starting line-up.
“He’s got a young player in Jack McGrath who has been playing particularly well. It’s great that we have that depth there at the moment in that loosehead position, Whoever starts will give you a certain level and someone coming on won’t drop that either, so we’re in a strong position.”
In contrast to Healy's case history, tighthead Mike Ross had a less than distinguished time when directly confronted by Joe Marler – England's starting loosehead in their wins over Wales and Italy – in Leinster's back-to-back meetings with Harlequins last December.
Maintaining that “we do things slightly differently to what some of the provinces do”, Easterby added: “Firstly, what happened in December has happened. What you’re able to do from them is look to rectify those things. He’s working in a different scrum, there might be slightly different systems being worked on with Feeky [Greg Feek] in particular.”
In any event, given that Leinster preferred Marty Moore for their final two pool games in Europe, the Irish management could feel vindicated in retaining faith in Ross after his two performances to date.
“We’ve come up with what we think is the right approach for England this weekend. Rossy has done really well. He played well in the autumn and he hasn’t done anything else to deter us from him being involved again this weekend,” said Easterby, indicating that they are not of a mind to make any change at tighthead anyway.
Non-contact work
Although all the squad took a full part in training, presumably Tommy O’Donnell was restricted to non-contact work as part of the return-to-play protocols given he suffered concussion playing for
Munster
last Saturday.
“He’s good, he’s gone through all his concussion protocols and return to training,” said Easterby. “As far as we’re aware, unless anything changes when I go back, I’d expect he’ll be in a position to train again on Friday.”
Thus the signs are that O'Donnell will be accommodated on the bench as part of the reshuffle which is likely to see Jordi Murphy promoted to number eight in place of the injured Jamie Heaslip.
“I’ve been really pleased with the way he’s responded since coming back from injury,” said Easterby of Murphy, who made his debut in the endgame of the defeat to England exactly a year ago and is in line for his seventh cap on Sunday.
“I thought he was good in Italy, which was pleasing to see. He’s got good lines of running. He carries well, he’s robust and he can cover the whole backrow as well; his versatility is an important factor for us, especially with Jamie being in the position he is.
“I’ve been really happy with Jordi. He goes about his business, he’s a tough bugger as well and he just gets on with things. He made his debut in the corresponding fixture but I think he’s grown up a fair bit.”
Meanwhile, the Saracens fullback Alex Goode is expected to be recalled to a re-jigged back three when the England team is unveiled tomorrow morning after last season's player of the tournament Mike Brown was ruled out of Saturday's match having suffered another setback in his recovery from the concussion he suffered during the 47-17 win against Italy.
Mild headache
The England defensive coach Andy Farrell yesterday revealed that Brown woke up with a mild headache after completing Tuesday’s running session.
“This morning Mike woke up not feeling 100 per cent. The right and proper thing to do was to make the call. His health is the main priority here and we need to get him right for the next game.”
While admitting the in-form Brown had been influential behind a relatively callow backline, Farrell said. “But Alex is an experienced guy himself who has been waiting for his chance for some time now. His form for Saracens in the big games against Munster and Clermont and in recent matches has been exceptional.”
