It now seems an age since Ireland crashed out of the World Cup in such disappointing fashion to Wales on that fateful day in October. The void of international rugby has been filled since then by the Heineken Cup and Rabo Direct Pro 12 thankfully, but the time has come to focus on Ireland once more.
Declan Kidney announced his squad for the 2012 Six Nations today, amidst talk in the media of this being a transitional period for the Irish national side. The loss of captain Brian O’Driscoll surely a major catalyst for such an estimation.
Kidney is a conservative coach by nature so no one actually expected wholesale changes and a flurry of new faces. However, there were certainly some spots up for grabs and some young guns putting their hands up.
So decent squad then? Well, talk of a transition can certainly be cast aside as the senior Ireland 24 man squad is about as routine as it gets. The format of the squad includes the aforementioned senior squad along with six additional ‘up and coming’ players who will train with the squad for the first week in Limerick, and also a 22 man Irish Wolfhounds squad.
The six additional players are made up of Ian Nagle, Peter O'Mahony, Tiernan O'Halloran, Paddy McAllister, Andrew Conway and Simon Zebo. While it is certainly a good thing that these guys will be getting exposure to the Irish set up and coaching systems, you can’t help but feel that this is opportunity lost in terms of offering game time to some of the up and coming stars of Irish rugby.
We should note that the Wolfhound players are still in the frame for selection for the Welsh match on the 5th of February in theory, as the final twenty-two will not be announced until after the Wolfhounds tie against the England Saxons on January 28th. The reality, however, is that you could probably name the 22 for Welsh match now and get it pretty much spot on.
Notable Inclusions/Exclusions
Having been omitted from the World Cup squad, it is perhaps not all that surprising to see Luke Fitzgerald named in the Wolfhounds squad, although his form has been superior for Leinster this season. Fitzgerald has come back well from that particular disappointment and was worthy of a place in the full squad. Instead of fighting for a starting place, which I thought he would be, Fitzgerald is confined to effectively the Irish ‘A’ team.
A perhaps more notable omission from the entire Irish set up was that of Paul Marshall. The young Ulster scrumhalf, although not starting every game, has looked pretty electric this season and surely could have been accommodated somewhere.
Although only on the pitch as a substitute against Leicester last Friday in Ravenhill, the youngster capped an impressive cameo with a try that demonstrated his quick mind as well as his fleet of foot. We know all about Isaac Boss and Tomás O’Leary; why not give Marshall a shot at the Wolfhounds at the very least? What will we learn that we don’t already know otherwise?
A teammate at Ulster, Dan Tuohy is another who can count himself unlucky as the lock has been in tremendous form for his province this season. It may look as if Ian Nagle has jumped ahead of him as he is in the ‘additional six’ but realistically, those players are there for development purposes and probably won’t see any meaningful game time. In fact, Tuohy could see himself catapulted into the senior squad proper if reports are true that Leo Cullen is set to miss the Six Nations through injury.
Another who will be disappointed not to slice his way into the senior squad will be Eoin O’Malley. Like Marshall, the former Belevedere College man has not always been first choice for his province but has looked very promising when he has. Perhaps more an elusive thirteen than Fergus McFadden, O’Malley lacks the defensive qualities, versatility and strength of his Leinster counterpart.
Overall
I remain unconvinced about the format of this squad - essentially a twenty four man squad, six youngsters who will train with senior squad and an ‘A’ team. Why not just name a thirty or thirty-five man squad like the other nations and include the likes of O’Malley, O’Mahony, Tuohy, Fitzgerald etc?
The official line may be that the Wolfhound players are in the frame to be picked against Wales on February 3rd but do we genuinely believe this? An outstanding performance against the Saxons coupled with an injury or too may see a Wolfhound promoted to the bench but if Fitzgerald scores a hat trick against the Saxons, will he start against Wales? It seems unlikely at this point.
More importantly, do the Wolfhound players themselves actually believe they can be picked for the Welsh match on the back of a performance for the Saxons and if not, is this the right message for Kidney to be sending out?
This may come across as overly negative, considering this is a fine Irish squad. And let us not forget that, this is an excellent group of twenty four players. However it is a safe play by Kidney at a time when some change would be welcomed by the masses. We are four years out from the next World Cup and the provinces are flying high with some talented youngsters instrumental in their success to date.
Ireland could well go on to achieve great things in this Six Nations; it is well within the realms of possibility and winning is clearly top of the agenda for Kidney. That doesn’t dilute the feeling of a missed opportunity however.
Either way, Ireland face Wales in their opening Six Nations fixture on the 5th of February. No one is thinking of revenge. Honestly.
Twitter: @TomFoxy