Rory Best is not going to go on forever but, all things going well, we should get to the 2019 World Cup.
The recent Guinness Series saw Joe Schmidt drop Sean Cronin to look at a couple of hookers in their 20s. Niall Scannell would have also featured but for his thumb injury, and surgery on it.
The series proved that Best, while not putting in any outstanding displays, is the country’s number one hooker. He will captain Ireland in the 2018 Six Nations before sitting down with Schmidt again at the end of the season.
Who should deputise for Best, and who will eventually replace him, were a couple of the topics Jerry Flannery considered when he joined The Hard Yards podcast.
Refusing to write off Cronin, Flannery made a great point about the next man to wrest control of the No.2 jersey. He said:
“Before the November games, I think the guys that would have been in the mix would have been Rob Herring, Sean Cronin, who is still there or thereabouts, James Tracy and Niall Scannell.”
“Looking at them,” he continued, “Niall Scannell is a very, very strong scrummager. They’re a fan of him in national camp and he has done well. Rob Herring is a really well rounded player. James Tracy, they’re a fan of his scrummaging as well and he’s a converted prop. Joe would have a lot of time for him because, as I understand it, he played a part in him making the move from prop to hooker. Sean Cronin is always going to be there because of what he can do around the field.
“The thing for these guys is that Rob is competing with Rory just for game time at Ulster. Sean is competing with James Tracy at Leinster, Richardt Strauss and Bryan Byrne. Niall Scannell is competing with the lads we have down below here [at Munster] when he is fit.
“So I think it’s the guy that nails down his provincial jersey will be the guy that really pushes himself forward. Whoever nails that is going to be the guy that starts pushing in and taking over from Rory eventually.”
If any of the candidates can pull off this Flannery trick-throw, too, it can’t but help…
