The New Zealander came extremely close to ending a long, arduous wait back in 2013. On Saturday, he gets a second chance.
Joe Schmidt has named an Ireland team he feels is capable of testing the world champions but he knows it will be far from easy. He knows, too, that even that is an understatement.
Ready to go https://t.co/VEUz9DqxET
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) November 3, 2016
Schmidt has named two young Leinster players, Joey Carbery and Garry Ringrose, on the bench for Saturday’s game. While there had been a clamour for Ringrose to continue his provincial partnership with Robbie Henshaw in the green jersey, Schmidt has opted for the experience of Ulster’s Jared Payne in the 13 jersey. Schmidt said:
“It’s daunting but exciting for them… those two youngsters can run all day; hopefully they are not chasing shadows.”
He added, “We tried to go with a little bit of experience because of the quality of the side and the magnitude of the game, to be honest.”
Schmidt said, depending on how the game plays out, he will attempt to give both players a decent stint off the bench to ‘see how they get on at the very, very top level’.
The Kiwi was asked to explain a decision that left New Zealand boss Steve Hansen questioning its logic – leaving Peter O’Mahony and Sean O’Brien back in Ireland.
“We feel the pace of the game will be very, very quick,” he said. “We tried to select the guys [such as Jordi Murphy and Josh van der Flier] who we felt were match-fit and ready to go.”
Ireland take on New Zealand from 3pm [8pm Irish time] at Soldier Field on Saturday.
Colm O’Rourke and Pauric Mahony join Colm Parkinson on a packed GAA Hour that includes Dick Clerkin appreciation and Sean Cavanagh envy. Subscribe here on iTunes.
