Coach Joe Schmidt has picked a 34-man squad for Ireland’s Six Nations game against France this weekend. The squad contains a couple of surprise omissions.
The three notable absentees are Leinster’s Josh Van der Flier and Joey Carbery, and Connacht’s Ultan Dillane. Der Flier picked up a shoulder injury in Leinster’s win over Edinburgh last Friday and had to be replaced.
Dan Leavy takes Van der Flier’s place in the squad. Leavy won the man of the match award, in Leinster’s rout of Edinburgh.
Rory Best returns to captain the side after being ruled out of Ireland’s match against Italy two weeks ago with a stomach bug. Tommy Bowe also returns to the squad.
Bowe played in the last few minutes of Ireland’s loss to Scotland. He looked well below his best, however, it was his first game back for Ireland since the 2015 World Cup.
It’s a strong squad for what should be a very tough game. France have gone through a resurgence in recent times. They lost a very close game to England in the opening weekend of the Six Nations, 19-16 (England’s closest game of their now 15-match winning streak).
One question remains. Who should be Ireland’s No.10?
With Johnny Sexton now fully fit, he may make his first appearance in this year’s Six Nations against France.
However, many feel that Paddy Jackson has done enough to keep Sexton out of the starting line-up.
Only a couple of years ago, the news that Sexton was injured sent waves of panic throughout fans and officials in Ireland.
Sexton was so far ahead of the nearest contenders, and a lynchpin of the side, that his absence from any test immediately reduced Ireland’s chances of success almost by half.
At the same time, Jackson was a capable replacement but not more so than Ian Madigan, Ian Keatley and Paddy Wallace, his rivals at the time.
Though all were good, none had anywhere near the invention, the ability to control a game, that Sexton possessed.
Sexton’s appearance in the Lions series against Australia in 2013, elevated him. At the time, he was one of the best fly-halfs in the world. He left the competition in Ireland further and further behind.
Then things began to change. Sexton left to play in France, where he started to suffer more and more injuries, due to the overextension of players there. His form dipped.
During this time, Paddy Jackson lifted himself above the others. With the continued absence of Sexton, Jackson became the incumbent No.10.
Jackson’s new place was evident in Ireland’s Test series against South Africa last summer. He became Ireland’s general on the field. Fans were no longer bemoaning the absence of Sexton.
It reminds me of the debate over Sexton and Ronan O’Gara. And before that, O’Gara and David Humphrey’s. And if you want to go even further back, Tony Ward and Campbell! Great fly-half duels of the past.
Those calling for Jackson to take the spot may have been a little premature.
While Jackson was great against Italy, it wasn’t a true test of his abilities.
I would even consider placing Joey Carbery ahead of Jackson. While Carbery is only in his first season of international rugby, and only started featuring for Leinster in the last 12 months, he has already proven himself to be a player of rare and genuine class.
He came on towards the end of Ireland’s historic win against the All Blacks, in November of last year, at Soldier’s Field Stadium in Chicago. (Carbery had taken Jackson’s place on the bench. Jackson didn’t travel to the States due to legal troubles).
Carbery, winning his first cap in that game, played like a veteran, taking control of the match. In only his third cap, in the later test against Australia, Carbery put in another masterful display, even playing out of position as the replacement full-back.
He performed similar feats in Leinster’s aforementioned win against Edinburgh, where he scored two tries and put in a great performance, both as starting fly-half and when he moved to full-back. It was Carbery’s first game back since been injured in December.
Graham Henry had picked his fellow native New Zealander as a player to shine, when Carbery was playing for semi-professional club, Clontarf. Henry should know, having managed two of the greatest fly-halves in history, in Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Carter.
Joey Carbery looks set to be a star of the future, both for Ireland and around the world. He may even be better than Paddy Jackson, even though he’s only 21.
However, Johnny Sexton is Ireland’s best fly-half at the moment. At his best, he can still control a game like no other. Sexton remains the best choice for Ireland.
Ireland Squad
Forwards
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster – captain)
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster)
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster)
Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster)
Tommy O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Con/Munster)
Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster)
CJ Stander (Munster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
James Tracy (UCD/Leinster)
Backs
Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Andrew Conway (Munster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Craig Gilroy (Bangor/Ulster)
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster)
Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster)
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster)
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht)
Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster)
Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster)
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
Tiernan O’Halloran (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (St Mary’s College/Leinster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)
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