Joe Schmidt will, most likely, go with 14 of the same men that started the historic win over New Zealand. There is an opening in the back row after Jordi Murphy’s unfortunate ACL injury.
Many supporters and pundits were surprised that Schmidt sent his side into battle, at Soldier Field, with Sean O’Brien and Peter O’Mahony left at home.
Any doubts we may have harboured about such a selection were swatted aside like All Blacks at the breakdown. Jordi Murphy and Josh van der Flier shared 80 fantastic minutes in the openside role as the world champions were defeated with 11 points to spare.
Murphy clear-outs and carries were extremely effective and he got down for Ireland’s first of five tries. Van der Flier replaced his injured Leinster teammate after 25 minutes and still led the tackle count [14] by the game’s conclusion.
Josh van der Flier on Ireland’s plan to stun the All Blacks pic.twitter.com/W2tExNvSO2
— SportsJOE.ie (@SportsJOEdotie) November 6, 2016
With Murphy out for at least six months, van der Flier would appear to be best placed to face New Zealand when the two sides meet again on November 19. However, O’Brien and O’Mahony look certain to start in the Irish back row against Canada this weekend.
Iain Henderson and Jack O’Donoghue are also hoping to face the Canadians but should not feature too heavily in that N0.7 debate. On Tuesday, Ireland forwards coach Simon Easterby said:
“I’d say everyone wants to be involved whether they started last weekend or not. There’s a real buzz about the squad and again I think that’s a mark of the squad is that they want to get back out there. Those guys that start will have the full support of those guys that aren’t involved or aren’t starting.”
A decent run-out at the Aviva Stadium may yet tilt Schmidt’s decision but, looking past the Canadians, van der Flier is surely the man in possession. He has shone against the likes of Sam Cane and Kieran Read and deserves another shot.
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