Ireland Squad 2018/2019

Jean Kleyn trained with Ireland this week.

Rhys Marshall also was invited up to observe. May have been others from other provinces.

 

Henshaw will jump straight back in, he's Joe's favourite player.

 

So McGrath looked badly injured today which would result in him joining Cooney and Marmion missing the start of the 6n.

Who the hell comes in?

 

Caolin Blade is in good form. After that the cupboard is bare. It'd probably be Dave Shanahan, Nick McCarthy and Neil Cronin in that order. Jamison Gibson Park qualifies during the summer.

 

Slim slim pickings. Murray better get some extra cardio in, he's playing 80 whenever possible.

 

Maybe Sale have someone?

 

James Mitchell at Connacht

a) Sale academy
b) England u20

Ticks all the boxes for new IRFU caps.

 

Sure Faf O’Klerk isn’t Irish?

 

*Looks at England's starting 9s*

It's ok, you're alright lads.

 

Very slim but still a lot better than a few years ago. With Luke McGrath almost certainly out for an extended period, I wonder will Hugh O'Sullivan push ahead of Nick McCarthy as Leinster's primary backup? There's no point picking McCarthy if he's off at the end of the season and O'Sullivan has more appearances this season. Given all the injuries at 9, O'Sullivan could push up to number 6 on the depth chart, at least until Gibson Park is qualified. He's looked good in his cameos so far.

I'd have no problem with Caolin Blade benching for Ireland given his form. Beyond that, Ireland are in trouble in the short term.

 

Call the Dunc.

 

Squad expected to be announced this week. You’d imagine we’ll see something like:
Props: Porter, Furlong, Ryan, Healy, McGrath, Kilcoyne
Hooker: Best, Cronin, Scannell
Locks: Ryan, Toner, Beirne, Roux, Dillane (would prefer Thornbury but won’t happen)
Back Row: Ruddock, Van Der Flier, Conan, Murphy, Stander, and O’Brien/O’Mahony/Leavy if they’re fit.
Scrumhalves: Murray, Blade and Cooney if fit
Outhalves: Sexton, Carbery, Byrne
Centers: Henshaw, Aki, Ringrose, Farrell, Other Farrell (hopefully), Addison
Back Three: Kearney, Larmour, Stockdale, Earls, Conway

Adam Byrne has been in great form and would deserve it but from a
Leinster POV I’d prefer if he was here for us in the league given that he’s unlikely to play.

You’d imagine Henderson and Marmiom will come in as the tournament goes on.

 

Hello,
I want to know : what do you think about Tiernan O'Halloran ?

 

A good player but won't be in squad. Too many others in top top form and Schmidt isn't a fan of his.

 

Apparently Blade will be the only new cap in the squad. Hardly surprising as we approach crunch time but I thought guys like t Farrell might have made the extended cut.

 

Jean Kleyn will be training though. Obviously not official member though and wont be in Portugal

 

Forwards (21)

Rory Best (Ulster/Banbridge) 113 caps (c)

Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 4 caps

Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 11 caps

Sean Cronin (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 65 caps

Ultan Dillane (Connacht/Corinthians) 11 caps

Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 28 caps

Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 84 caps

Iain Henderson (Ulster/Queens University) 42 caps

Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 24 caps

Jack McGrath (Leinster/St Marys College) 53 caps

Jordi Murphy (Ulster/Lansdowne) 26 caps

Sean O’Brien (Leinster/UCD) 52 caps

Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 52 caps (vc)

Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 11 caps

Rhys Ruddock (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 21 caps

James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 13 caps

John Ryan (Munster/Cork Constitution) 16 caps

Niall Scannell (Munster/Dolphin) 11 caps

CJ Stander (Munster/Shannon) 28 caps

Devin Toner (Leinster/Lansdowne) 63 caps

Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 13 caps

Backs (17)

Will Addison (Ulster/Enniskillen) 3 caps

Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 12 caps

Caolin Blade (Connacht/Galwegians) 0 caps

Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 16 caps

Jack Carty (Connacht/Buccaneers) 0 caps

Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 10 caps

John Cooney (Ulster/Terenure College) 4 caps

Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 72 caps

Chris Farrell (Munster/Young Munster) 3 caps

Tom Farrell (Connacht/TBC) 0 caps

Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 36 caps

Rob Kearney (Leinster/UCD) 87 caps

Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 9 caps

Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 67 caps

Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 17 caps

Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Marys College) 78 caps (vc)

Jacob Stockdale (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 14 caps

 

Ross Byrne hurt for not being a starter for Leinster it seems.
So overall the Joey Carbery decision to move to us seems to be proven correct. & Carty earned his spot.
Tom Farrell is a good call and interestingly it seems now that maybe Addison is a back 3 player with capability of being a centre.

No Dan Leavy either

 

Ross Byrne is very unlucky but Jack Carty is playing extremely well. When you look at the talent of players who aren't in the squad, it's a sign Ireland are in a very good place at the moment.

Ever since Connacht demolished Leinster at the tail end of last season, Jack Carty has shown a level of form which I didn't realise was in him. He's fully deserving of his place in the squad, as are Caolin Blade and Tom Farrell. Andy Friend is doing a brilliant job getting those players up to the standard they're now at.

 

and kicker if we were in dire straits.