Ireland’s starting team to face South Africa will have a couple of big calls

Four uncapped players were named in Ireland’s squad for the Guinness Series but only one is expected to make the matchday 23 for South Africa.

Joe Schmidt has a few surprise inclusion, and omissions, in his Ireland squad for next month’s Guinness Series.

Schmidt named the November internationals squad in years [38 men] and there were call-ups for Adam Byrne, Bundee Aki, Chris Farrell and Darren Sweetnam. Even still, there were some seriously talented players left disappointed.

And this doesn't include injured players like Ringrose, Heaslip, JvdF, Niall Scannell, Matt Healy and Ulster's Jackson & Olding pic.twitter.com/lweqhu82vE

— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) October 29, 2017

Ireland’s toughest Test is the opening stanza of the Guinness Series, against a Springboks side that ran New Zealand perilously close on a couple of occasions in the Rugby Championship.

Schmidt is expected to name his strongest team for the November 11 game but, as he proved by leaving Simon Zebo out eight months before he heads to the Top 14, the coach’s calls are often hard to predict.

That has not stopped us from selecting the Ireland squad we expect to be named next Thursday at Carton House.

The front row – Jack McGrath, Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong – and back row – Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien and CJ Stander – should be the same as the units that started the Six Nations victory over England. The second row is tougher to call but we fully expect Iain Henderson to make up one half of the pairing. We suspect Devin Toner will be the safe selection, with James Ryan and Kieran Treadwell getting a run-out later in the series.

Half backs, again, look after themselves. Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton continuing where they left off on the Lions Tour.

Robbie Henshaw is a certainty for the Irish midfield but what jersey he’ll wear, and who will partner him, is less clear. While we would love to see Stuart McCloskey [at 12] team up with Henshaw at least once, next month, Schmidt may be unable to resist the urge to throw Bundee Aki his Test debut against the Boks.

Considering there were no fitness updates on Rob Kearney in recent weeks, his inclusion in the Ireland squad was somewhat of a surprise. Adam Byrne and Dave Kearney’s call-ups were even greater surprises but while we expect Rob Kearney to don the No.15 jersey, the wing slots look like going to Keith Earls and bang in form Jacon Stockdale.

Our big calls on the bench are all backline related – Luke McGrath edging ahead of Kieran Marmion, with Joey Carbery and Andrew Conway versatile back-ups.

IRELAND

Rob Kearney

Keith Earls
Robbie Henshaw
Bundee Aki
Jacob Stockdale

Johnny Sexton
Conor Murray

Jack McGrath
Rory Best (captain)
Tadhg Furlong

Iain Henderson
Devin Toner

Peter O’Mahony
Sean O’Brien
CJ Stander

Replacements: James Tracy, Cian Healy, John Ryan, Ultan Dillane, Dan Leavy, Luke McGrath, Joey Carbery, Andrew Conway.

*Let us know who you think Joe Schmidt will go with over on our social media channels

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