Joe Schmidt avoided the All Blacks but it came at a cost.
Ireland’s tireless engine proved too determined for France on Sunday afternoon but such was the ferocity of the 23 men who took to the field, that there are a number of alterations for Schmidt to make for the quarter-final against Argentina.
Johnny Sexton’s groin injury is up there with one of the more concerning problems for the Ireland coach but the pack is where he’s lost most of his fire-power.
Captain Paul O’Connell tore his hamstring in Ireland’s Herculean victory while Peter O’Mahony is out of the tournament after sustaining knee ligament damage.
Add to that the citing of Sean O’Brien that will likely lead to a two-week suspension and it becomes clear that Schmidt has his work cut out for him in the coming days.
Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll was asked his thoughts on how he would rejig the back row, given the players at Schmidt’s disposal, on Off The Ball on Monday night and here’s what he had to say.
“I think because it’s Argentina as well – if you don’t have Seanie, Chris Henry goes in automatically. I thought he made a really good impact off the bench for Pete. I thought he’s been a guy who’s made a big difference when he’s come on. Even against some of the smaller nations, he had a good contribution. You get a different player with Chris, more of a link player and a little bit more of a groundhog.
“I think you have to go for some size in your back row. That’s why I reckon Iain Henderson might start at six and bring Donnacha Ryan into the second row along with Dev Toner. Donnacha Ryan brings a hard edge to him like Paulie has. He’ll have not gotten a huge amount of game time.
“I think you have to go with an explosive ball carrier, if you’re losing Seanie. Depending on what happens with Cian Healy, whether they start him or bring him off the bench, you need one really explosive ball carrier and that’s where – at six – Henderson will get more of an opportunity to carry.”
