Maybe it's the sun, and the thought of beaches, but after such a choppy tidal wave of a season yesterday's announcement of the 28-man Irish squad for the three-Test tour of the Americas shows Irish rugby to have hit calmer waters.
Such was the changeover in personnel and advent of new caps, that there is only room for four uncapped players: Geordan Murphy, Guy Easterby, Frankie Sheahan and David Wallace. They, along with Mike Mullins' unlucky omission, yet another Lazarus-like return to the international ranks, this time in the shape of Dominic Crotty, coupled with Dion O'Cuinneagain's omission and confirmation of his absence from next year's Six Nations, represent the biggest waves.
Needless to say Munster hogged it - do they do anything else these days? Ten of their players made the cut, and being Munster they'll argue they might have had a few more, not least Mullins, and perhaps even Eddie Halvey. There are seven Leinster players in the squad, with three from Ulster and eight from overseas, and the presence of 24 capped players in a comparatively youthful party underlines the greater strength in depth, with Conor O'Shea, Tom Tierney, Paddy Johns and Trevor Brennan - all capped this year - also missing out.
Only two players weren't considered - the injured Kieron Dawson and O'Cuinneagain. The Irish World Cup captain is contracted until December, after which he intends returning to Cape Town to complete his final year of medical studies.
"There isn't really much point in taking him on tour as we're not going to pick him against Japan and South Africa in November if we know he's not going to be around for next year's Six Nations," said Warren Gatland.
A quirky feature of the squad is that only one of the capped backs, Denis Hickie, is currently plying his trade on the wing, yet another six of them have played on the wing for Ireland. Despite the overlapping, it looks as if Girvan Dempsey and Crotty are the full backs, Denis Hickie, Justin Bishop and Murphy are the wings, with Brian O'Driscoll, Rob Henderson and Kevin Maggs as the centres and Shane Horgan perhaps having the most flexible role of all.
Whiile Horgan may well start on the wing in the first Test in Buenos Aires on June 3rd, Gatland admitted yesterday that thereafter Horgan may be considered as a centre. "If you're looking at the next World Cup, ideally you'd probably want Horgan and O'Driscoll as your centre combination, and we've also got to think in terms of an option to O'Driscoll should he ever get injured." Hence another factor in Mullins' exclusion.
"It's very tough on Mike," said Gatland who himself countered questions about Mullins' defence with an admission that "he's played in a lot of winning sides this season. If there's an injury there he'll probably be first out."
Crotty's return to arms - he won his four caps in 1997 on the wing - is reward for his consistent and improving performances with Munster and Ireland A this year. He probably doesn't have the pace of Peter McKenna, and his counterattacking game needs to evolve, but his defensive work has been generally trojan this season and he gave the scoring pass to Munster's first two tries last Saturday. Above all else you can't but admire the manner in which the likeable Garryowen full back has picked up the pieces of his career again after his abysmal treatment in 1997.
"I've also been impressed by his work-rate," explained Gatland. "He's not afraid to go looking for work, and taking popped balls off Stringer, and his defence has been very good. It's a bit hard on Peter McKenna but we've not really seen him at the same high level. He just needs a long run at a higher level and without injuries."
The other main Garryowen beneficiary of Munster's campaign has been Wallace. "He was always going to go even if Kieron Dawson was fit," admitted Gatland. "His form this season justified it, you need two number sevens in a tour squad and he has developed well into that role after being given a run there."
Gatland also hinted that Marcus Horan might join the tour at some juncture as Peter Clohessy seeks to keep mind and body healthy with one eye on a Lions' swansong a year hence.
The developmental possibilities of the tour are countered by there being "plenty of young guys in the squad anyway," according to Gatland. He was thus reluctant to bring along the likes of Gordon D'Arcy and Jeremy Staunton, whose frustration you can barely imagine, and well understand.
Last summer Staunton was on the bench for Ireland in Perth. This season he has scored 16 tries in 20 competitive games for Garryowen, Irish under-21s and Munster - a phenomenal strike rate for an outhalf who has also occasionally filled in as centre and full back, and only turned 20 last Sunday.
"Along with Brian O'Driscoll, they are the three most talented players in the country and we have to be conscious of not holding them back too long," admitted Gatland. "But we also don't want to be bringing them along to sit them in the stand. We want them playing games too. At least we've people we can call on. We're well covered."
