The fresh-faced Ireland ‘A’ team we would like to see take down England

Ireland take on England this weekend.

Ireland ‘A’ face England ‘A’ on Sunday at Ashton Gate (kick-off, 1 pm), the home of Bristol Bears, with the match being streamed live on RugbyPass TV.

Munster’s attack coach Mike Prendergast is head coach, with Jimmy Duffy, Mark Sexton, Seán O’Brien, and Colm Tucker all part of his backroom team.

After Simon Easterby named a 40-man squad for Ireland’s Six Nations clash with Wales on Saturday, a 29-man ‘A’ was put out, with just six fully capped players among it.

We have had a pop at picking our match-day 23 for the clash, full of new faces with a sprinkle of experienced heads, while six deserving but unlucky men miss out.

Front row

The Tom O’Toole loose head experiment continues and despite a few early launch issues, he deserves time to patch and update any glitches.

The Ulsterman is also the most experienced in the squad, from an international standpoint, and will be needed to help guide those around him.

Diarmuid Barron is likely a shoo-in at hooker, while Jack Aungier seems to have crept ahead of Oli Jager in the pecking order.

Lock

Darragh Murray was a stand-out on last year’s Emerging Ireland tour and revels in the tight exchanges and set-piece.

Given his experience, Fineen Wycherley will likely get the start over his fellow Munster man O’Connell, but the youngster has stepped up at both URC and Champions Cup level this season, and against the All Blacks XV.

Conor O’Tighearnaigh will likely miss out.

Back row

As captain, Max Deegan is a certainty and will look to put serious pressure on the English line-out, alongside Murray.

Having captained the Emerging Ireland last year, and linked up with the senior side for the Autumn Nations Series, Kendellen is the obvious choice at openside.

Deegan may start at No 8, with Wycherley or Soroka at blindside, but we reckon the ball-carrying ability of Brian Gleeson will see him flourish at this level.

Half-back

With just two scrum-halves named, Ben Murphy and Fintan Gunne will both see game time.

Much will be expected of Connacht’s Murphy, who has been one of the top Irish players in the URC this season.

Harry Byrne is another certainty to start and will be all too familiar with the pitch, given his current loan spell with Bristol Bears.

There are no other regular No 10s, but Cathal Forde has experience in the position with Connacht.

Centre

Any combination of of Jude Postlethwaite, Hugh Gavin, Hugh Cooney, and Cathal Forde, would be welcome and exciting.

At least one of these men will miss out on the squad, and we’ve gone for size and pace with our Postlethwaite/Gavin pairing.

Gavin in particular is one of the best Irish prospects of recent years.

Back-three

Shayne Bolton has been on the fringes of the Ireland squad over the past year, with injuries curtailing his progress at crucial moments.

Sevens star Zac Ward is still relatively raw at this level but has massive upside.

Shane Daly will be in the 23 with his ability to cover multiple positions, with Tommy O’Brien the one to miss out despite being as deserving as anyone considering his desperate luck with injuries.

Still only 20 years old, Ben O’Connor has racked up decent game time with Munster and Emerging Ireland and looks poised to take his game to the next stage, and have greater influence on matches at this level.

Our Ireland ‘A’ 23:

1. Tom O’Toole
2. Diarmuid Barron
3. Jack Aungier
4. Darragh Murray
5. Evan O’Connell
6. Max Deegan
7. Alex Kendellen
8. Brian Gleeson
9. Ben Murphy
10. Harry Byrne
11. Zac Ward
12. Jude Postlethwaite
13. Hugh Gavin
14. Shayne Bolton
15. Ben O’Connor

Replacements: Stephen Smyth, Paddy McCarthy, Oli Jager, Fineen Wycherley, Alex Soroka, Fintan Gunne, Cathal Forde, Shane Daly.

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10