There is not much room for complaint in Ireland’s team selection to face Scotland but there are minor complaints all the same.
Ireland will go into Saturday’s Six Nations opener with several players that are lacking significant game-time over the past month.
The big call sees Sean O’Brien edge out Leinster teammate Josh van der Flier for a spot on the bench. O’Brien has a chequered past in terms of injuries, dating back three years, but Schmidt feels he has hit fitness markers and is a safer bet in the No.7 jersey rather than coming in from the bench.
Schmidt’s decision goes against his logic when not selecting O’Brien for the Chicago Test against the All Blacks. Back in November, Schmidt reasoned that O’Brien may lined out for Leinster but he may not have been able to handle break-neck international pace. Schmidt said:
“We got the team together last Monday and trained, Monday, Tuesday and Friday… they are very short windows but the team we put together gives us our best chance and are fully fit.”
O’Brien’s last game was a month ago against a hopeless Zebre side but he must have done enough in training to convince his boss that he is ready for the Scots. On November 29, O’Brien was pilled from the Ireland team to face Australia and replaced by van der Flier.
The other big decisions were flagged in advance – Niall Scanell leap-frogging James Tracy to deputise for Ireland hooker, and captain, Rory Best, Iain Henderson partnering Devin Toner in the second row and Keith Earls stepping in for the hampered Andrew Trimble.
Schmidt confirmed that Donnacha Ryan, who does not feature in the matchday 23, is out due to a medial ligament [knee] strain. There was also bad news for Peter O’Mahony but Andrew Trimble and Johnny Sexton are in contention to face Italy on February 11.
Peter O'Mahony is "highly unlikely" for Italy.
Schmidt says his hamstring tear is "borderline grade 2"— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) February 2, 2017
There was also a welcome return to the Ireland matchday squad for Ulster’s Tommy Bowe. The 32-year-old has not played for Ireland since rupturing knee ligaments in Ireland’s October 2015 World Cup exit to Argentina.
Ireland take on Scotland from 2:25pm at Murrayfield on Saturday.
