In
Edwin Edogbo
The 23-year-old gave Andy Farrell a timely nudge with a couple of tries off the bench in Munster’s defeat to Castres. During that cameo, Edogbo reinforced the qualities he possesses, which include being a good athlete with explosive power housed in a 122kg frame.
The first professional from the Cobh Pirates club, he spent 22 months on the sidelines because of a couple of Achilles tendon tears. His standing was illustrated when Farrell took him to Chicago as a travelling reserve for the Test against the All Blacks. It’s not simply about sheer strength or ballast in mauls, at the breakdown and in tackles. Edogbo’s background in playing other sports is also evident in his skill set.
Robert Baloucoune
If Baloucoune was to add to his four Ireland caps (two tries), an increased work-rate was one requirement. This season for Ulster, under the coaching baton of Richie Murphy and Mark Sexton, he has done exactly that and been a significant part in the province’s attacking armoury.
Is Ireland's Six Nations squad 'safe'?
His pace is top end at international level and he is as good a finisher as there is, one-on-one. The 28-year-old has also got sharper in his defensive duties. Injuries to Mack Hansen, Calvin Nash and Jordan Larmour have opened a door but he is in on merit and form.
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Nathan Doak
Significant responsibility was placed on the 24-year-old’s shoulders at the start of the season. Doak had become the senior scrumhalf after John Cooney departed – a challenge he has responded to superbly.
His all-round game has been excellent, quicker and slicker in thought and distribution than previously, while his running lines and support play has been rewarded with a bagful of tries. An accomplished place-kicker too, he will start third in the pecking order at nine, but a first cap could very well come his way as early as the second round of the Six Nations if chosen for the match-day 23 against Italy. Another who deserves his promotion.
Out
Caolin Blade
Blade is due back for Connacht’s game against Leinster on Saturday following an Achilles injury that has kept him sidelined since the second week in December. The 31-year-old won the last of his four caps against Japan in November and before that enjoyed a brilliant 21-minute cameo – his decision and pass to Ciarán Frawley set up the match-winning moment – in helping Ireland beat the Springboks in the second Test in the summer of 2024. Lost out to his Connacht teammates Matthew Devine and Ben Murphy and Leinster’s Fintan Gunne for a place in the Ireland XV squad to boot.
Iain Henderson
Injuries have compromised Henderson’s game time over the last couple of seasons. He managed just two appearances in the 2024 Six Nations and only one last year, against England – all three off the bench – having previously played five matches at the 2023 World Cup. The Ulster captain, who will turn 34 next month, has been a brilliant player through 85 Tests and two Lions tours. He has won five Six Nations titles and two Grand Slams, but that injury profile and the emergence of several outstanding young players – including those that can play secondrow and backrow – means there are others with more compelling claims.
Gavin Coombes
Coombes made his Test debut in 2021, winning a couple of caps, but then had to wait until last summer before adding to that tally when starting against Georgia in Tbilisi. He has spoken about the four-year gap, channelling the disappointment as a positive fuel source. He admits during that time “there were a lot of mistakes on the pitch, [and] mistakes off the pitch maybe with regards to preparation, planning and different things like that”. Coombes is behind two world-class eights in Caelan Doris and Jack Conan, but not making the Ireland XV squad will perhaps hurt a little bit more, no matter what way it is dressed up.
