You’ve had your say, voted in droves and made some solid selections, but will Joe Schmidt listen?
SportsJOE had its wooden abacus out this morning to tabulate the votes our readers cast for the Ireland team they want to start against Italy, in Rome, this Saturday.
The most popular XV is included below and should closely resemble the team Schmidt names at Carton House on Thursday.
The closest calls were outside centre – Jared Payne [55%] holding off Keith Earls [34%] and Darren Cave [11%] – and tight-head – Mike Ross [53%] edged out Leinster teammate Marty Moore [47%]. The left-wing slot was also hotly contested:
Sean O’Brien may be only one decent game into his latest injury comeback but that did not stop 66% of you selecting him to start at openside. Schmidt may spring him from the bench, against Italy, and start with either Tommy O’Donnell, who polled 19%, or Jordi Murphy [11%].
The biggest landslides were Peter O’Mahony over Robbie Diack [99% to 1%], Paul O’Connell over Mike McCarthy [99% to 1%] and Conor Murray ahead of Eoin Reddan [97% to 3%].
Be sure to keep an eye on our Twitter page, or the website on Thursday to see if Schmidt has heeded your calls.
