The Missing Ireland World Cup XV
There are some big names are missing from Joe Schmidt’s 31-man squad for the World Cup in Japan. Some players are injured but many have missed out for selection reasons. Here, RugbyPass gives you an XV of players being left behind in Ireland.
1. JACK McGRATH
Cian Healy’s return to form since 2017 and the strength of Dave Kilcoyne’s performances in 2019 meant McGrath – who came off the bench in all three 2017 Lions Test matches against New Zealand – was unable to make the squad, never mind regain his Ireland starting spot. He would have travelled if Schmidt had generously opted for six props. However, he went with five in 2015 and he has now gone with just the five again, Andrew Porter being called on to cover both sides of the scrum.
2. ROB HERRING
Ulster’s hooker misses out on his second World Cup in a row as Munster’s Niall Scannell and Leinster’s Sean Cronin are preferred behind captain Rory Best. Best’s status has come under recent scrutiny but Schmidt trusts his captain, especially in the lineout. Cronin’s try-scoring ability and around-the-park energy gives Ireland mobility off the bench, while Scannell’s starting role in Ireland’s 2018 series win in Australia wasn’t forgotten. That left Herring as the odd man out.
Brian O'Driscoll weighs in on the Devin Toner debate that has the whole of Ireland talking https://t.co/MYhwwUbaI0
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 3, 2019
3. FINLAY BEALHAM
Bealham is an intelligent tighthead who was a key part of Connacht’s 2016 PRO12 triumph. A slump in form for province and country led to him working hard to lose some weight and improve his mobility and stamina around the park, but he was unable to overtake John Ryan and Porter in the tighthead back-up rankings.
4. ULTAN DILLANE
Another Connacht absentee, Dillane was cut from the squad in early August before the World Cup warm-up matches even started. He emerged during the first half of this four-year RWC cycle, earning 11 caps between February 2016 and November 2017, but the emergence since then of James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne and now Jean Kleyn in the Irish engine room left him surplus to RWC requirements.
5. DEVIN TONER
The RWC squad’s headline omission. There had been mutterings about Toner’s lack of mobility for years but his brilliance in the lineout and importance to Ireland’s restarts saw him keep his place. Kleyn’s recent eligibility under the three-year residency rule altered the pecking order, though, and a player who starred last November in Ireland’s win over New Zealand is now out of the loop as they head to Japan.
Joe Schmidt hasn't taken kindly to Agustin Pichot's comment regarding Ireland's Devin Toner https://t.co/8F3tWQwZ6q
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 3, 2019
6. DAN LEAVY/SEAN O’BRIEN
Ireland would have loved to have had at least one of these injured back rows available. O’Brien was class on the 2017 Lions while Leavy became a star of the 2018 Ireland Grand Slam and Leinster’s European/PRO14 double. O’Brien’s exit to London Irish means his Test career is over, but 25-year-old Leavy should have a shot at RWC 2023 if he recovers from his serious injury.
7. TOMMY O’DONNELL
O’Donnell must be wondering which god he has offended having missed out on a second consecutive RWC tournament. He infamously dislocated a hip in the opening warm-up match in 2015 in Cardiff, while injury in 2019 meant he arrived into Ireland pre-season with little or no rugby for Munster. A sole August start against Italy wasn’t going to upset the pecking order.
8. JORDI MURPHY
Versatile and hard-working, Murphy has been there on some of Schmidt’s biggest away days – Cape Town, Chicago, Twickenham and Sydney – but the ability of both Beirne and, at a push, Rhys Ruddock to cover lock meant Murphy was always in danger of missing out.
ADVERTISEMENT
View this post on Instagram
OK here it is. #englandrugby #irishrugby #rwc #rugbyworldcup #rugbygram #rugbymemes
9. KIERAN MARMION
He was an accomplished starter in last November’s win over New Zealand, but scrum-half was always a position where Schmidt would only take the bare minimum with him to Japan. He only had two scrum-halves at England 2015 and it is the same again now, out-half Joey Carbery on standby to provide emergency cover at No9 if the need arises. That left Marmion in a head-to-head with Luke McGrath behind Conor Murray and he lost out, McGrath’s Champions Cup experience and defensive qualities seeing him preferred.
10. ROSS BYRNE
Byrne has frequently looked the part when stepping up for Johnny Sexton at Leinster, so much so that Carbery moved to Munster last summer to start getting time in the No10 role. However, having slipped behind Jack Carty in the Ireland pecking order during the 2019 Six Nations, Byrne never stood a chance of showing what he can do as Ireland’s pack spent the day last month going backwards at Twickenham in his first Test start.
11. DAVE KEARNEY
Another player who has had a terrible time with injuries, Kearney finally put a string of games together for Leinster in 2019 to remind everyone what he can do. A starter in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final, he has long been a favourite of Schmidt but there were just too many talented backs at Ireland’s disposal now for him to join his brother Rob in the RWC squad.
‘I remember as a kid having vague recollections of police checks and border controls, so the thought of going back there feels as though it's such a step back in time’
– @BrianODriscoll talks to @heagneyl about Brexit, @IrishRugby and @rugbyworldcuphttps://t.co/jHOw9x5HfE— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 1, 2019
12. STUART McCLOSKEY
He was one of Ulster’s standout performances in a greatly improved season last time out, but Ireland have their preferences in the middle of the park and Schmidt doesn’t seem to trust the popular, offloading centre’s ability to play within his structures.
13. RORY SCANNELL
The Munster inside centre was one of the early cuts to the 45-man RWC training squad despite having a handy left boot as well as clever hands.
14. WILL ADDISON
Ulster’s versatile back is more usually at 15 or centre. Classy and creative when on his game, he had a start last Saturday against Wales to force his way in but it didn’t work out for him.
15. MIKE HALEY
Recruited by Munster from Sale last summer after Simon Zebo ended his Test career by moving to Racing 92, Haley made his Ireland debut off the bench against Italy last month but was soon cut for the warm-weather camp in Portugal.
WATCH: The Rugby Pod voice their concerns for Ireland their World Cup campaign after their humbling loss to England at Twickenham
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments