There were only three positions genuinely up for grabs: number four, number thirteen and number ten. The selection of number thirteen would also have a knock on effect in terms of who occupied the wing berths, of course.
Declan Kidney announced his Ireland team to face Wales at lunch time today with everyone wondering who would occupy the famous thirteen shirt and to a lesser extent if Jonny Sexton would hold off the challenge of Ronan O’Gara. The battle between Munster men Donncha O’Callaghan and Donncha Ryan was also cause for some debate.
In the end, Kidney did plump for Earls in the outside centre role as had been widely touted. Jonny Sexton did hold off O’Gara and Donncha Ryan will have to bide his time just a little longer.
In truth, there were no real surprises in Kidney’s selection which could have been predicted and actually was in most cases. Firstly, let us address the number thirteen shirt as it become somewhat sacred in these parts.
Declan Kidney is a known long time admirer of Earls and the Munster man acquitted himself well in the world cup as Ireland’s ‘finisher in chief’. The Limerick man has buckets of talent, of that there is no dispute, but question marks remain over his ability in the outside centre channel.
Earls as a thirteen makes sense on so many levels. He is quick, elusive, has terrific balance and represents a genuine threat with ball in hand. All these attributes should add up to a world class thirteen. Yet somehow, the sum doesn’t equal the parts.
Defending at thirteen is an art unto itself and this is the main aspect of the position that Earls has struggled with. Absolute trust must be placed in those inside and outside you and any mistake is typically punished fairly emphatically. His missed tackle on Manu Tuilagi in the World Cup warm up series last year a case in point.
Another concern over the Munster man in the role was his ability to link cohesively with his wingers in attack as there has been something lacking in this department in the past. His running lines from the channel could also be called into question at times.
However, Earls starred in Munster’s epic win in Northampton last week in the role; looking completely comfortable in defence and extremely dangerous in attack. Earls deserves his shot at this position as much as any man. That’s not saying the jersey now belongs to him.
Is Fergus McFadden good enough to play thirteen at this level? Of course. Should he be given a chance too? Absolutely. Give them all an opportunity I say and see what comes of it. McFadden would not let anybody down and a chance is surely around the corner for the Leinster man. He deserves it.
Next up is the old standing out half debate. After his heroics in the Heineken Cup for Munster this season, there were calls for Ronan O’Gara to be selected and these calls had some merit, given his form. ROG has been playing well and no one is better under pressure than he.
Having said this, Jonny Sexton has been the best fly half in Ireland this season bar none. The Mary’s man has got that Leinster backline ticking and has been ferocious in defence. Marry this with a top quality kicking game and you have Ireland’s number ten. Right call by Kidney.
Lastly, the selection of Donncha O’Callaghan in the second row with Paul O’Connell is both the most baffling and the most predictable choice of all.
It is the most puzzling because this is a man who can’t even get into the Munster team and the man keeping him out of the side now takes his place on the bench for Ireland. Donncha Ryan has been the better player this season and rightly deserves his place ahead of O’Callaghan in the Munster team but not in the Ireland team, seemingly. Go figure.
However, this is a vintage Kidney selection. The man may have faults but he is loyal to a bone and this selection came as no shock. Kidney will have uttered something like: ‘Donncha Ryan has been going well, but O’Callaghan has been serving us consistently for years.’
It is not as if he can cite O’Callaghan’s long standing partnership with Paul O’Connell as the reason for his inclusion, as Ryan has partnered the captain incumbent for the majority of the season at Munster. It is the wrong call in my book but it is Kidney through and through.
So there we have it. Another Six Nations is upon us and in all honesty, it looks a very exciting side for the opening encounter against the Welsh. The back row and half backs in particular ooze dynamism and the back three are all in cracking form. Let them off the leash now and we are all set.
Twitter: TomFoxy