Ireland v Fiji, Aviva Stadium, Saturday (kick-off 1pm, live on Virgin Media TV and Amazon Prime).
Only seven of the players who featured in the Ireland ‘A’ side’s thumping 47-19 defeat by an All Blacks XV have been promoted to the match-day squad for Saturday’s game against Fiji, and Andy Farrell has admitted that the fringe team’s disappointing performance prevented him from going further.
The uncapped Jeremy Loughman and Nick Timoney have been named in the starting XV against the flying Fijians, with Tom O’Toole, Cian Prendergast, Max Deegan, Craig Casey and Jack Crowley all promoted from the ‘A’ squad to the bench on Saturday.
But while Farrell and his assistants were always of a mind to retain an experienced core to the side for this game, the events of the RDS last Friday were also a factor in not delving deeper.
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“There’s a bit of both,” he admitted. “There is a bit of both in that. Test matches are not gimmes, certainly at this stage. Test matches have to be earned. Of course, there are certain circumstances with injuries and opportunities and being in the right place at the right time, and getting your run right etc.
“But people don’t just get a Test match when they’re not performing at their best. There is definitely an element of that.”
Of the nine players in the squad who have not been selected in either of the two games to date, and thus now seem unlikely to feature against Australia either, six played in that ‘A’ game, including Dave Heffernan, Jacob Stockdale and Michael Lowry who look to be the most pointed exclusions.
In any event, the message is that there are no cheap caps. Opportunities have to be grasped.
“It’s a must. You could talk about that there’s only so many Test matches until whenever, but at the same time, we’ve had a few opportunities; three [games] with the Emerging Ireland, two with the Maoris and the ‘A’ game. They matter to us. They matter to us. We see them performing day-in-day-out against each other which in some circumstances, like I’ve said before, is more difficult because of peer pressure.
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“They are getting judged consistently on that. So yeah, like I said, opportunity comes around and you’ve got to take it. And some lads, we are interested to see how they handle that this week.”
In addition to Loughman and Timoney, Robbie Henshaw returns after missing last week’s game due to a hamstring strain, while six of last week’s bench have been promoted.
Of those, this is shaping into a particularly good month for Jimmy O’Brien, having seemingly climbed up the backline pecking order with his eye-catching debut at outside centre last week and selection at fullback ahead of Lowry and Stockdale this week.
Loughman, Prendergast and Max Deegan, one of the additional players for the ‘A’ game in which he replaced Gavin Coombes and is now in line for his second cap, are other upwardly mobile players, at the moment anyway, while Farrell has opted for some insurance policy on the bench in Dan Sheehan and Garry Ringrose.
The 27-year-old Loughman will make his debut after a circuitous journey from his birthplace in Nevada, via Athy RFC, Blackrock College, the Leinster academy and initially a three-month development contract with Munster in December 2017.
Farrell sees potential in this late developer’s all-round game, highlighting his skill-set, and believes he has the improved maturity to cope with the emotions of a Test debut.
“He’s got good hands, he’s got good feel, good awareness. He’s powerful, unbelievably powerful. His scrummaging has come on no end over the last six months and he’s a lot of power. And he could add to our game, you know? He gets his opportunity to show that.”
Prendergast, who is also covering secondrow rather than his Connacht teammate Gavin Thornbury, and Jack Crowley are also in line for their Test debuts off the bench. Crowley’s chance comes in part because of the knee injury Ciarán Frawley suffered in the ‘A’ game, which was also the case in the Emerging Ireland tour when he started two of the three matches.
“I like his potential, I like his hunger. I like his character,” said Farrell. “He’s got something about him, Jack, as far as his character is concerned. When he talks, people listen. It’s pretty important, all of that. His skillset is pretty good. He’s learning but… right place at the right time. Did unbelievably well, showed everyone what he’s got with character and skill-set on the Emerging Ireland tour and it speaks for a lot, doesn’t it? So yeah, obviously, with him, right place, right form, right attitude at the right time.”
Despite the missing front-liners, Farrell expects a “better performance in the areas that we’ve discussed as a team. Yes, the opposition are going to be a tremendous threat but playing our game, being accurate with our game and yeah, progressing. We’re a week further down the track so we expect progression.”
The areas identified from last week have, not surprisingly, focussed on the ‘Boks’ success in counter-rucking and the lack of pass-catch precision when working players into space on the edges.
“We had a few balls turned over at the ruck against us,” admitted Farrell. “Some of the work off the ball wasn’t up to scratch all the time so little pieces that you probably think that matters but it matters a hell of a lot to us. Our skill set under press was dodgy at times.
“So these are all areas where we can get better at.”
Ireland: Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas); Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor), Mack Hansen (Connacht); Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Jeremy Loughman (Munster/Garryowen), Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf, capt); Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena), Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne); Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College), Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge), Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere).
Replacements: Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne), Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf), Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch), Cian Prendergast (Connacht), Max Deegan (Leinster/Lansdowne), Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon), Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution), Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD).
