A host of Irish players are coming into the Six Nations in fine form.
The 2017 Six Nations kicks off this weekend and Ireland will be seeking to regain the crown they lost to England last year. Joe Schmidt’s men are coming off the back of a decent November Series that included wins over Canada, Australia ans New Zealand.
One of Schmidt’s main tasks, in 2016, was to add depth to his squad. He gave 18 players Test debuts whilst keeping Ireland more than competitive and improving their position in the world rankings.
Two of the players that benefited from Schmidt’s new vision were Tadhg Furlong, who had three substitute appearances before last year, and CJ Stander. Schmidt gave them a chance and neither man let him down.
It comes as no small surprise, then, that Furlong and Stander have been earmarked by the English press as the Irish players to make an impact in the tournament. Owain Jones of Rugby World declared:
“Tadhg Furlong will nail down and anchor that [Irish] scrum. They call him jukebox because of all the hits he does in the loose. He’s had an immense breakthrough and a lot of folks are tipping him for the Lions.”
The British & Irish Lions squad will not be selected until late April but it is not far from everyone’s thoughts heading into the championship. Chris Jones of BBC Sport says:
“CJ Stander is someone that, if he can reach the heights for Ireland that he has reached for Munster, it will be really hard not to see him going on that Lions tour as well.”
The clock is ticking and the time for talk is almost done.
