Both men are on the wrong side of 30 but have had decent seasons so far.
Keith Earls and Rob Kearney are getting used to time spent on the sidelines in between playing bursts. As time and toil has worn on their bodies, both men have been struck down by injuries and have seen themselves written off.
The fact that they return with the same hunger that marked them out as top prospects, a decade ago, is a large part of what makes them the players they are.
Joe Schmidt has injected youth and vitality into each one of his squads since the 2015 World Cup. He has handed out 31 Test debuts since Ireland exited the tournament at the hands of a vibrant Argentinean side. Still, Earls and Kearney remain.
At present Earls [30] and Kearney [31] are two of the squad’s thirtysomethings. Not all of them will make it to the 2019 World Cup, in Japan, but I’d put good money on those two men joining Rory Best for the trip east.
Earls, in the past 18 months, is looking as good as he has ever been. His pace is undiminished and his attacking lines, and timings of his runs, are cannier than ever. He was a sensation in the away defeat to Racing 92 and ramped up his performance levels another notch the following weekend, against Castres.
It is that form, and his past record with Ireland, that will see him starting against France in Paris this weekend. Jordan Larmour, Andrew Conway and Fergus McFadden are all hunting that 14 jersey – and one game will not slow their pursuit – but Earls will be entrusted with lacerating Les Bleus from his wing, and getting through a heap of defensive work when Ireland don’t have the ball.
Larmour, such has been his impact in the past two months, is also in contention for the fullback slot but Kearney will hold him at bay… for now. The 20-year-old may get a starting chance against Italy but he is still in contention for a replacements’ role at Stade de France.
There have been social media-driven suggestions that Kearney is lucky to even be in the mix. Such claims are wide of the mark. The Louth native started the season well, was injured, returned to perform well in the Champions Cup and did well in the festive inter-pros.
True, Larmor’s attacking talents have eclipsed those of Kearney but the elder statesman is the safer bet for an Ireland backline already missing Jared Payne and Garry Ringrose. The expected midfield of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw have only one Test outing together and Jacob Stockdale has four caps. Kearney and Earls have the faith and backing of Schmidt.
One of the other big calls is expected to be Cian Healy starting ahead of Jack McGrath. This may not be as much a slight on McGrath as Schmidt keenly remembering what went wrong in Ireland’s last Six Nations visit to Paris.
44 minutes into Ireland vs. France, in February 2016, France coach Guy Noves made a power-play substitution and threw on props Eddy Ben Arous and Raba Slimani. Three minutes later and Camille Chat replaced hooker Guilhem Guirado and the fresh French front row went to work.
Ireland’s scrum was immediately under the pump and, with a baying home crowd, France took a strange-hold of the game. Schmidt did not make his front row swaps until the 62nd, 71st and 73rd minute. There was no overwhelming faith in James Cronin, Richardt Strauss and the inexperienced Tadhg Furlong. Ireland paid the price.
Schmidt will have been plotting for the France game for the past 10 months. Ever since Ireland wrapped up the 2017 Six Nations, this has been the focus.
Ireland had been fortunate with front row fitness until Niall Scannell [ribs] and Dave Kilcoyne [knee] suffered knocks. Still, they are in good nick. The Ireland coach is expected to go Healy, Rory Best and Furlong.
Whenever the change comes, he can call on McGrath, Sean Cronin and John Ryan as his back-ups. And with a lot more confidence than 2016.
