The player pool is getting deeper. On Sunday, it needed to be.
The list of Ireland’s injured is almost enough to make a decent starting XV. 10 senior stars missed Sunday’s draw with Wales and two more – Tommy O’Donnell and Keith Earls – went off with head injuries.
And yet Ireland were left to rue giving up a 13-0 lead only to level the scores at 16-16 and threaten a late winner. Only one point was gained but the spirit on show was amazing.
Rhys Ruddock, who replaced O’Donnell, explains how the current Ireland side are a damned hard side to beat. He said:
“The strength of the collective goes a lot further than the 15 players on the field at any one time.
“The majority of the guys who were playing today have been in and around the group for a long, long time and know exactly what’s expected of them by the coaches, everyone on the staff and all the players. That has a lot to do with it. And it comes down to culture.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s your first game or you’ve been there for years, everyone buys into that and that’s what you see no matter who puts on the jersey.”
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Ruddock may yet be called upon to face France from the start, this Saturday, with O’Donnell following the Return To Play protocols and Sean O’Brien nursing hamstring tightness. The Leinster back-row is confident O’Brien will pass his fitness markers. He said:
“We’re happy that we’ll have Sean to come back in hopefully.
“CJ [Stander] added a lot out there today, so for me I’ve just got to focus on my own performance.
“I thought the time I had on the field I did well, and obviously I’m happy that the back-row went well as a unit too.
“I think we did well when it came to retaining the ball out there against Wales. And the threats that they pose with Justin Tipuric, Sam Warburton, Dan Lydiate when he came on, all these guys, we didn’t really give them a look-in.
“And that’s a sign that your pack and your back-row are doing their job and I think everyone played their part today.”
Everyone playing their part.
More of the same will be required next Saturday.
