‘The worst part of World Cup selection is not picking the 31; it’s telling the other 14 that they haven’t made it.’
Now we are down to the nitty gritty.
Ireland play Wales this Saturday in what will be their final World Cup warm-up and Paul O’Connell’s last match in a green jersey at the Aviva Stadium.
A little over hours later and 31 Irish players will know they have made it into Joe Schmidt’s World Cup squad.
Schmidt told reporters, at this afternoon’s team announcement, that, in all likelihood, he will tell the lucky 31 the good news on Sunday night.
The rugby-loving public, he added, may have to wait until Monday to see his final selection.
Schmidt does not appear to be looking forward to letting some of his squad down.
He commented, ‘How do you tell someone that has worked incredibly hard – not just the last 8, 9 weeks but the last four years and they are desperate to be involved. You tell them as honestly as you can. I think that’s all you can do.
‘You’d like to meet them face-to-face but that’s probably not going to be practical. It will have to be phone calls.
‘As a coach, it is probably the least desirable part of my job.’
Australia coach Michael Cheika turned a few heads, last weekend, when he only announced two scrum-halves.
Schmidt is set to bring three – Conor Murray, Eoin Reddan and Kieran Marmion – but he did give thought and time to a journalist’s query about Leinster out-half Ian Madigan filling in there.
As Schmidt pointed out, Madigan has played No.9 for Leinster ‘in emergencies’ during his time at the province.
‘The two guys we used to cover 9 were Isa Nacewa and Ian, so we have done a little work around that.
‘He certainly isn’t training at 9 with us.
‘It wouldn’t be beyond the decision-making process that we have… We’re still very open-minded.’
