Andrew Trimble and David Kilcoyne unluckiest to miss out for Ireland, says Paul Wallace
Wednesday 2 September 2015 15:53, UK
Joe Schmidt was one of the last coaches to unveil his squad for the 2015 World Cup, and just has been the case for other countries, the pedigree of some players who did not make selection shows how good Ireland's depth is.
Ulster's Andrew Trimble was closest to getting his name on the sheet while prop David Kilcoyne was a close second according to Sky Sports' Paul Wallace.
Wallace says their omission comes on the back of heavy competition for jerseys.
"There were always going to be a couple of unlucky players to miss out," said Wallace.
"The back three was probably the most competitive area. Yes, Andrew Trimble has been out injured for a while but he was the stand-out back three player before that.
"In his comeback game against Wales he showed the physical ability that Joe Schmidt craves in his gameplan, and you'd think that would be a valuable weapon in tight, physical games such as Wales last weekend.
"But it's not as if Ireland are short on quality in that area. The other players have done particularly well; guys like Simon Zebo and Keith Earls have that x-factor."
"Nathan White and Tadhg Furlong may be inexperienced at international level but we are in a far healthier position at tighthead than in years past."
Facilitate
The former British and Irish Lions prop says there was plenty of jostling for positions in the Irish front row, but believes Joe Schmidt has the balance right in that department.
"After Trimble, I think the next unluckiest guy is David Kilcoyne.
"If you looked at form, he and Jack McGrath were the two best front rowers in the warm-up series to date, but when you're trying to facilitate Cian Healy someone has to drop out. To have played that well and not made it is very difficult.
"I agree that you bring three tightheads rather than three looseheads though, even though the form of the looseheads is better.
"Excuse the pun but when push comes to shove, tightheads can move across the front row, whereas it just doesn't work the other way.
"Nathan White and Tadhg Furlong may be inexperienced at international level but we are in a far healthier position at tighthead than in years past.
"But Kilcoyne and Marty Moore could still feature; there's a long way to go yet."
The former Ireland international believes that recent impressive performances have been rewarded in the midfield.
"I thought there might have been an argument for Gordon D'Arcy's experience, but Darren Cave's form has been excellent.
"With Ian Madigan covering 10 and 12, Ireland were quite light in that area, and I think that selection suggests Madigan has gone to No 2 in the out-half rankings for Schmidt.
"Paddy Jackson isn't playing that well and Madigan had a stormer against Scotland."
Risk
Schmidt has only opted to take two scrum-halves with him and Wallace, who was capped 45 times for Ireland, says the gamble is related to the location of the tournament.
"Were the World Cup in southern hemisphere, would the same risk be taken at scrum-half?
"When someone is just an hour flight away, it makes a big difference, and it allows Schmidt to take those sort of risks.
"The other thing is that scrum-halves generally don't get injured. I spent my career trying to catch one and never did!"
Live International Rugby Union
Ireland travel to Twickenham on Saturday for their final World Cup warm-up before the tournament starts. They kick-off their World Cup campaign against Canada at the Millennium Stadium on September 19 before playing Romania and Italy.
Their toughest opponents are the French, who they play on October 11, and Wallace feels the three games that precede it will offer Schmidt time to settle on his best side, which takes some of the pressure off this weekend.
"Schmidt will probably want to have a look at some combinations.
"Momentum and getting a win at Twickenham will be quite big for Ireland though. You don't want to go into the World Cup off two losses.
"It may not be a fair way to look at it but people perceive the final pool game against France as Ireland's next big challenge after Saturday."
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