It has been 17 months since Tommy Bowe last lined out for Ireland.
Bowe will turn 33 during this Six Nations championship and may have feared for his Test future after missing out on the summer tour to South Africa and November Series.
He ruptured knee ligaments during the World Cup quarter final loss to Argentina and his return to action took much longer than expected. He has made 12 appearances for Ulster, scoring two tries, but missed a lot of January action.
His name was included in the whopper, 40-man training squad and he must have done enough to impress the current coaching staff as he is, according to multiple reports, back on the bench for Saturday’s Six Nations opener.
Both the Irish Times and Independent are reporting Bowe will provide backline cover for the game against Scotland at Murrayfield. He can handily cover the back three and has experience, from his days at Ospreys, in midfield.
While SportsJOE believes Josh van der Flier will start at openside, both outlets are arguing the case for Leinster colleague IF he has had a full week of training. The flanker is a month without first-team action after picking up an injury in a PRO12 win over Zebre.
The argument for O’Brien – odd as it may sound – is that van der Flier is a more than capable replacement should he break down. Were O’Brien to suffer an injury after coming off the bench, it would leave Ireland in a hole. It all depends on how vital to the cause Schmidt believes the Carlow native is.
Munster hooker Niall Scannell looks to have edged out Leinster’s James Tracy as back-up to Ireland captain Rory Best.
The official team announcement will be made at 2pm this afternoon, at Carton House.
