Whether or not he proves his fitness early next week, Rob Kearney’s No.15 jersey must be under threat in this Ireland team.
Ireland are motoring now in the 2017 Six Nations and can set up a potential championship decider against England on 18 March by seeing off Wales at the Principality Stadium [formerly known as the Millennium Stadium].
Joe Schmidt is unlikely to make too many changes but there is scope for bringing Peter O’Mahony in to strengthen Ireland’s breakdown and lineout chances. Cian Healy may trade places with Jack McGrath again. The fullback role is one that will engage minds most over the coming days, and all the way up to next Wednesday’s team announcement.
Simon Zebo finished the 19-9 win over France as fullback after Kearney limped out with a hip injury. Jared Payne made his Ulster comeback 24 hours later and Tiernan O’Halloran is having a super season for Connacht.
During The Hard Yards rugby podcast, former Ireland international Johnny O’Connor made a great case for Ireland starting O’Halloran.
He said:
“If you look at the way Tiernan has been playing, and just recently, he seems to have got a real spark in his step. He played well when given his opportunity in the November internationals.
“If you keep Zebo where he is and bring Tiernan into the back three you’ve got two guys that can create something out of nothing. They’ve got great turns of pace and great steps in them.
“You can bring Trimble in and he’ll do his job well – hit his lines well – but you will add something more in terms of attack by bringing Tiernan in… he is the form fullback in Ireland.”
https://soundcloud.com/thehardyardssportsjoe/irelands-win-over-france-a-connacht-bromance-and-why-conor-murray-is-so-good-episode-4
O’Halloran deserves every bit of praise he gets but he may have to bide his time until Ireland’s summer internationals against the USA and Japan.
Were Payne to get through 40 or 50 minutes of action for Ulster, against Treviso, this weekend, we would put him in at fullback. Described by Garry Ringrose as Ireland’s defensive captain, Payne has proved himself against the best in world rugby.
We would leave Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw in midfield and slot Payne into the fullback role he has so often excelled in for Ulster. He has two games at fullback for Ireland and one wasn’t that bad at all – the historic victory over South Africa in Cape Town.
Other than that, we are making no changes to the Ireland XV and leaving the bench as it is.
OUR TEAM TO PLAY WALES
15. Jared Payne
14. Keith Earls
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. Simon Zebo
10. Johnny Sexton
9 Conor Murray
1. Jack McGrath
2. Rory Best (c)
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Devin Toner
5. Donnacha Ryan
6. CJ Stander
7. Sean O’Brien
8. Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: N Scannell, Healy, J Ryan, Henderson, O’Mahony, Marmion, Jackson. Trimble.
*Let us know what you think of our selections on Twitter, Facebook or Snapchat.
