Joe Schmidt takes calculated risk with World Cup squad

As has been the case with other World Cup squad selections, there was always going to be some risk-taking when Joe Schmidt and his coaches finalised Ireland's 31-man squad, and uppermost among these is the decision to pick only two scrumhalves, Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan.

Unlike four years ago, therefore, Isaac Boss, will not be travelling to the tournament as well, nor will Ireland be taking a third specialist "nine" of any hue, with the versatile Ian Madigan set to provide cover there as well as, potentially, outhalf, centre and fullback.

This gamble has created space for an additional centre in the forecast 17/14 split, with Darren Cave chosen to provide cover for Robbie Henshaw ahead of Gordon D'Arcy and Noel Reid, with Paddy Jackson also travelling as one of three outhalves along with Johnny Sexton and Madigan.

Eye-catching

Other eye-catching selections are the inclusion of Connacht's ex-Leinster, naturalised Kiwi tighthead, Nathan White, who made his first test start in last Saturday's defeat at home to Wales, and Tadhg Furlong, who made his debut in the last 23 minutes of that match.

So despite the decision to opt for three tightheads, Marty Moore has not made the cut.

Moore trained last Thursday and Friday, but clearly there are concerns over the foot injury that compounded his recovery from shoulder surgery and delayed his return to action.

Moore is unlucky. His 10 caps have all been off the bench in the last two successful Six Nations campaigns as a replacement for Mike Ross, who has completed 80 minutes just once in his 20 starts under Schmidt, and for never less than 16 minutes and usually longer.

Moore suffered against Vincent Debaty in the win in Paris two seasons ago, but acquitted himself admirably against Uino Atonio in the win in Dublin last February – two of the three looseheads in the French squad whom Ireland will encounter in their critical last pool match in Cardiff.

However, with Schmidt & co gambling on Cian Healy recovering from his neck surgery, that was always likely to count against Moore.

White’s inclusion was effectively flagged by Schmidt when he exonerated White for the concession of a pivotal scrum penalty against Wales by disputing Craig Joubert’s decision, and in also describing White’s performance as “very, very good.” The bigger surprise is that Furlong has edged out Moore as well. Hence, despite the injury cloud over Healy, the only other loose-head is Jack McGrath, and so David Kilcoyne also misses out.

Three hookers

Not surprisingly, the three hookers will be Rory Best, Seán Cronin and Richardt Strauss. Also as expected Donnacha Ryan has completed a remarkable recovery to accompany Paul O'Connell, Devin Toner and Iain Henderson, and with Tommy O'Donnell and Rhys Ruddock missing out, the five backrowers are Seán O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip, Peter O'Mahony, Jordi Murphy and Chris Henry.

In contrast, competition was fiercest in the back three, where Schmidt & co had to choose six players from the 10 named in the original 45-man squad. In the event Andrew Trimble, Felix Jones, Fergus McFadden and Craig Gilroy have missed out, with Rob Kearney joined by Keith Earls, Luke Fitzgerald, Tommy Bowe, Simon Zebo, and his brother David.

There remain injury clouds over Earls and Fitzgerald, but not surprisingly Schmidt has included both, not least as they provide extra cover at outside centre for Jared Payne.

Trimble, as he showed in his eye-catching 34 minutes of the opening warm-up win over Wales, provides something different from the others with his physicality and fast line speed in defence. But again, his omission was flagged last Thursday when Schmidt cited this as Trimble's only rugby in the last eight months, as well as the 10 days or so it took the winger to recover from the foot injury he sustained in that game – even though he completed a try-scoring 80 minutes for Ulster in Edinburgh last Friday.

Bowe, with his try-scoring 40 minute effort in that game, has made the cut, as has Zebo after good try-scoring performances away to Wales as a replacement winger and at home to Scotland as a starting full-back.

This means Jones has missed out, despite being highly thought of by Schmidt.

At face value, the biggest gamble is naming only two specialist scrumhalves, with Madigan as cover, which will leave the cupboard fairly bare if either Murray or Reddan sustains a short-term injury.

IRELAND WORLD CUP SQUAD

FORWARDS (17)
Hookers
Rory Best (Ulster)
Seán Cronin (Leinster)
Richardt Strauss (Leinster)

Props
Cian Healy (Leinster)
Jack McGrath (Leinster)
Mike Ross (Leinster)
Nathan White (Connacht)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster)

Secondrow
Paul O'Connell (Toulon, capt)
Devin Toner (Leinster)
Iain Henderson (Ulster)
Donnacha Ryan (Munster)

Backrow
Seán O'Brien (Leinster)
Peter O'Mahony (Munster)
Jamie Heaslip (Leinster)
Chris Henry (Ulster)
Jordi Murphy (Leinster)

BACKS (14)

Scrumhalves
Conor Murray (Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Leinster)

Outhalves
Jonathan Sexton (Leinster)
Ian Madigan (Leinster)
Paddy Jackson (Ulster)

Centres
Robbie Henshaw (Connacht)
Jared Payne (Ulster)
Darren Cave (Ulster)

Outside backs
Keith Earls (Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster)
Tommy Bowe (Ulster)
Dave Kearney (Leinster)
Rob Kearney (Leinster)
Simon Zebo (Munster)