Ireland coach Joe Schmidt faces 'big decisions on No 9 and No 10'
Wednesday 5 August 2015 12:49, UK
Former Ireland international Reggie Corrigan says Joe Schmidt will have a big decision to make when choosing which No 9s and No 10s to name in his World Cup squad.
Corrigan, who earned 47 caps for his country between 1997 and 2006, says the Ireland coach must figure out how many scrum-halves and fly-halves to pick.
He says Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton are both certainties for selection – barring injuries – after which Schmidt must decide how best to balance his 31-man squad.
The 44-year-old Corrigan, who played prop with Leinster, said: "Probably nine and 10 are going to be the two most difficult decisions he has to make.
"The half-backs and 10s are probably key, and the props will be an issue as well, because of the sheer number you need to cover in the front-row.
"You've got clear top performers in both those positions but then it's about whether he wants to take three 10s or three scrum-halves, and how that would affect the balance if he did.
"That's where versatility can really be vital. These camps and warm-up matches give a great opportunity to build two or three different types of game they can play.
"It's been the perfect chance to build different approaches.”
Other than that, Corrigan believes Schmidt probably already knows who will fill the remaining slots in the squad.
Corrigan continued: "But I would say he has pretty much already made up his mind and he knows where he's at in terms of his squad.
"He's obviously still got time and the games ahead, and there's no doubt players can still force him to rethink his plans.
"But I would think barring any sort of injury, which hopefully won't happen to anyone, or a stand-out performance either in training or one of the warm-up matches, I doubt too much he'll be radically changing his mind."
Ireland open their Pool D campaign against Canada in Cardiff on September 19.
