Ireland squad: Winners and losers as prop trio handed ‘golden opportunity’ while Andy Farrell ‘resists temptation’ amid injury plague
Andy Farrell with an inset of Harry Byrne.
Following confirmation of Andy Farrell’s wider 37-man squad for the Six Nations, here is our take on the key winners and losers.
Winners
Uncapped duo
Andy Farrell has included two uncapped players in his wider training group this Championship, with Munster’s Edwin Edogbo and Ulster’s Nathan Doak primed to make their Test debuts.
Their inclusions also come off the back of impressive performances across the URC and European club games this season, but they will both add something fresh to the group.
As he’s proved in recent weeks, hulking forward Edogbo is a really strong, aggressive ball-carrier in the tight, and crucially, will just add serious size and power to this Ireland pack, which will come as a much-welcome addition after the narrative surrounding them following the South Africa defeat.
Doak also brings a fresh edge to the scrum-half stock, but it also seems to be a bit more future-planning from Farrell. Jamison Gibson-Park is certainly coming towards the backend of his Test career, so giving the in-form Doak a chance to show his worth at this level with one eye to making him the starting option in the future.
Harry Byrne
It’s been a long time since Harry Byrne last featured in the Ireland Test side, but he certainly has a great chance to make the match-day 23 after cracking the initial training group. The Leinster man has been in really good touch across the season, seemingly a refreshed player for his loan stint at Bristol Bears last year.
He does face a big fight to get into the starting side, or even the 23, with Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley having a duopoly over the jersey in recent years, but he is bang in form right now and could certainly get a tune out of Ireland this Championship. That aforementioned stint in the West Country seems to have really taken his attacking exploits up another level, playing with real creative flair and an ability to look for space.
Crucially, too, his last-gasp kick against La Rochelle showed he can stand up in big moments, which is exactly what will be needed if Ireland want to reclaim the Six Nations title.
Loosehead trio
With Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy out of the Championship, Jeremy Loughman, Michael Milne and Jack Boyle form the loosehead unit.
Porter has held the starting gig for what has felt like forever, while Paddy McCarthy has been positioning himself as the de facto replacement in the past few months, both at Leinster and Ireland, so this is a golden opportunity for the trio to stake a claim for long-term involvement.
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At the time of writing, you would potentially have Loughman as the starter, based purely on experience, but Milne featured for Ireland A in November and twice off the bench in the summer, while Boyle also debuted in last year’s Six Nations and started both Tests in July as well, so it’s by no means a guarantee for any of them to earn a shirt.
Losers
Injured cohort
Ireland are in the midst of a major injury bout, right across their squad. The aforementioned duo of Porter and McCarthy join Robbie Henshaw, Mack Hansen, and Ryan Baird on the unavailable list, while Cormac Izuchukwu is also among the injured group.
This is now a real Test of Farrell’s squad, even with him not rolling the dice to draft in some fresher faces – spoiler alert – with those previously on the fringes now likely to get a start.
In-form omissions
While those injuries might have presented an opportunity for new caps or fringe players to come into the squad, Farrell has resisted the temptation to draft in the likes of Joshua Kenny, Bryn Ward, Scott Wilson, Darragh Murray and Jude Postlethwaite into his initial squad, even with Ward and Murray training with the group before going to join up with the A-squad.
With all of those issues, it could have been a great chance for Farrell to bring in those new faces and possibly test out his depth even further, but he has put his trust in the players he knows.
