100 seems like a sufficiently arbitrary number of days away from the World Cup to speculate on Ireland’s squad, doesn’t it?
If you follow any Irish rugby players on social media, you are probably being bombarded with photos of them enjoying holidays in enviable destinations all over the world at the moment. This is their last chance to enjoy themselves before they get back into pre-season and try to book a place in Joe Schmidt’s World Cup squad.
https://instagram.com/p/3gtVMvPPax/?taken-by=jordimurphy
Of course, some players will have already done enough over the course of last season but there are always a few places up for grabs that people can snatch during the warm-up games.
But with 100 days to go, two SportsJoe writers decided to metaphorically don Joe Schmidt’s signature training ground baseball cap and select the 30 men they think the Kiwi will take on the short trip to the UK this autumn.
We used the 2011 squad as a template for how many players would be selected in each position.
Will Slattery
Props (4): Cian Healy, Jack McGrath, Mike Ross, Marty Moore.
Hookers (3): Rory Best, Sean Cronin and Richardt Strauss.
Second Rows (4): Paul O’Connell, Devin Toner, Iain Henderson and Donnacha Ryan.
Back Rows (5): Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Chris Henry, Peter O’Mahony and Jordi Murphy.
Scrum-halves (3): Conor Murray, Eoin Reddan and Kieran Marmion.
Out-halves (2): Johnny Sexton and Paddy Jackson.
Centres (3): Robbie Henshaw, Jared Payne and Luke Fitzgerald.
Wings (4): Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble, Keith Earls and Craig Gilroy.
Fullbacks (2): Rob Kearney and Felix Jones.
Pat McCarry
Props (4): Cian Healy, Jack McGrath, Mike Ross, Marty Moore.
Hookers (3): Rory Best, Sean Cronin and Rob Herring.
Second Rows (4): Paul O’Connell, Devin Toner, Iain Henderson and Mike McCarthy.
Back Rows (5): Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Chris Henry, Peter O’Mahony and Jordi Murphy.
Scrum-halves (3): Conor Murray, Eoin Reddan and Kieran Marmion.
Out-halves (2): Johnny Sexton and Paddy Jackson.
Centres (3): Darren Cave, Jared Payne and Luke Fitzgerald.
Wings (3): Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble, Keith Earls.
Fullbacks (3): Rob Kearney, Robbie Henshaw and Ian Madigan.
Obviously, Schmidt might tweak how many backs or forwards go or how many players go in each position, but regardless, the New Zealander has some very tough choices to make.
There was no room for Tommy O’Donnell, Rhys Ruddock or Simon Zebo in either squad, which shows that even if one or more of that trio end up travelling, there will be some excellent players having to watch proceedings from their living room.
We don’t envy Schmidt’s task at whittling down his playing pool but that’s why he’s one of the world’s best coaches – although, Wales Online don’t rate him as highly as we do in Ireland.
***Who would you like to see travel in Ireland’s World Cup squad? Tweet us and let us know
