Shannon folk have been smoldering with discontent all season and, while welcoming the belated inclusion of Mick Galwey in the Irish squad yesterday, the threetime AIL champions will feel that what the selectors give with one hand they take away with the other.
Eddie Halvey has, remarkably, been their sole selection this season, but "the enigma of Irish rugby" (Pat Whelan) duly completed the steady descent from team member (v New Zealand) to replacement (v Canada) to nonreplacement (v Italy) to outcast when he was omitted from the 30man squad for next Wednesday's session at the ALSAA complex. It must do wonders for his selfbelief.
Halvey makes way for David Corkery, while Shannon teammate Galwey comes in for Brian Cusack. The Bath lock has been released for Saturday week's European Cup final against the holders, Brive, in Bordeaux.
No replacements have yet been announced for the injured duo of Conor McGuinness and Jonathan Bell, both of whom have officially withdrawn from contention for the opening Five Nations' game against Scotland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday fortnight. As a result of the midfield shortfall - Rob Henderson has also been sidelined - the selectors may shelve their plan to pick the side to play Scotland next Tuesday.
As for Halvey's omission, little light was shed on the matter by the Irish selectors yesterday. In what is obvious, continuing fallout from the recent spat between manager Pat Whelan and coach Brian Ashton, the former politely referred inquires to the latter by saying: "Perhaps you better ask Brian."
Ashton, heretofore supposedly obliged to keep mum on such selectorial matters, is clearly out of practice, for he was decidedly unforthcoming. While he confirmed that Halvey "has been left out", Ashton merely commented: "We're just looking at the balance of the back-row."
Halvey had been watched by Whelan, though not by Ashton, when, by all accounts, he maintained his good form in Shannon's defeat of St Mary's last Saturday. But Ashton, when asked whether Halvey had done anything wrong, said: "I'm not prepared to talk about things like that publicly."
Given that Dylan O'Grady was originally selected at number six for the Italy defeat before Kieron Dawson's injury, and was still being spoken of in those terms afterwards, it would seem to leave the squad with an imbalance of number sixes (namely Erskine, Corkery and O'Grady) and one open side flanker, though Ashton did reveal "O'Grady is being looked at as a number seven".
Curiously, Whelan did say Halvey's exclusion from the squad did not necessarily preclude him from selection for the game against Scotland - though clearly it does. After all, his Shannon back-row partner Alan Quinlan is named amongst those "additional players invited to attend on Wednesday". The others are: Jan Cunningham (Ballymena), Justin Bishop (London Irish), Stanley McDowell (Ballymena), Mervyn Murphy (Galwegians), Dominic Chapman (Richmond) and Barry Everitt (Garryowen).
The presence of Chapman and Bishop brings to six the number of wingers in attendance next Saturday, which suggests that while Bishop has been forgiven for an out-of-sorts Development tour, his unfortunate if in-form teammate, Niall Woods, has not been and may never be. The midfield options, sans Bell and Henderson, are comparatively limited, a point Ashton readily acknowledged. It may be that Bishop, and indeed Cunningham, are being considered as centres in the longer term. It is also interesting to note the selection of Stanley McDowell and the hardtackling Mervyn Murphy ahead of his Galwegians and Connacht midfield partner, Pat Duignan, formerly a regular at these sessions.
But there is no sign of the highly-regarded, New Zealandborn centre Adam Larkin being called into the equation in the immediate term."
Ashton, who will be accompanied to Treviso this weekend by Warren Gatland and Ray Southam for the Italy-Scotland game, has sent a simple message to Scottish counterpart Richie Dixon. "The first thing you don't do is under-estimate Italy," he said.
Ashton insists the Italians will be deserving additions when they finally make their bow in a revamped Six Nations tournament, likely to be in place for the 1999/2000 season. "Their results suggest they are better than us at the moment," he admitted. "They have beaten us three times in the last three years and, without any shadow of a doubt, no one will relish going to play Italy out in Italy."
Shannon have selected an unchanged team, which means the versatile prop cum lock, John Hayes, will continue to partner Galwey in the absence of the injured Kevin Keane, while Marcus Horan plays in the front-row.
Ballymena, in keeping with a policy and injury-free run which has seen them use only 17 players in the league, have recalled Michael Rainey, unavailable last week, in an otherwise unchanged side from that which lost to Old Crescent for their visit of Clontarf.
Galwegians have selected a fullstrength side for the visit of Buccaneers in the eagerly-awaited Division Two meeting between the runaway Connacht pacesetters. Buccaneers leave a vacancy at tight-head pending a fitness test on Martin Whelehan.
