RUGBY TOUR SQUAD:THE MANNER of Irish rugby's inevitable drop from the current high water-mark should be revealed on Declan Kidney's first tour as national coach. Yesterday, the wily Cork man announced 24 of a 25-man squad, already shorn of Ireland's 14 original Lions, the Leinster contingent and others either rested or injured, to face Canada on May 23rd in Vancouver and Eddie O'Sullivan's US Eagles seven days later in Santa Clara, California.
Irish player resources in the professional era will never be so thoroughly examined. If Paddy Wallace can recover from yet another head injury after this weekend’s final Magners League fixtures he will probably travel but it has been confirmed that no Leinster players will be joining the senior tour ahead of the second match against the US Eagles.
The same applies to Geordan Murphy and Johne Murphy, who should both feature for the Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Cup final, although the latter is named in the Ireland A squad.
The senior group are due home on June 2nd but the Kidney management (Gert Smal, Les Kiss, Mervyn Murphy and Alan Gaffney for the US Eagles test) and nine players fly on to Colorado to prepare for Churchill Cup matches against Canada (June 10th), Georgia (June 14th ) and one other, ideally the final.
They will be joined by the rest of a 27-man squad including in-form Leinster players Jonathan Sexton and Cian Healy.
So while player and management resources will be stretched to the limit the summer equally provides an ideal opportunity to unearth much-needed cover in the long-standing problem areas of Irish rugby – namely the dearth of props and outhalves.
Despite thirtysomethings John Hayes and Marcus Horan getting much deserved breaks, while Jerry Flannery and Bernard Jackman are unavailable, the frontrow options could be worse. It is about time Mike Ross (29) and Tony Buckley (28) began a personal battle to succeed the great Cappamore farmer as the resident tighthead prop. Buckley’s inability to get through a season injury-free and considering Ross was just named in the Sky Sports English Premiership team of the season puts the Harlequins man in pole position. Born in Cork, Ross is due to sign for Leinster this summer.
Cian Healy will make his presence felt at the Churchill Cup so the loosehead position looks to be Tom Court’s, with Bryan Young deputising. Buckley can also be used on this side of the scrum.
Outhalf is between Connacht’s Ian Keatley and Ulster’s Niall O’Connor but Wallace could yet sweep in and ensure no progress is made here. Ian Humphreys’ defence, or lack thereof, practically guaranteed O’Connor’s plane ticket but considering he is being kept on for the Churchill Cup, Keatley, after an encouraging season, should be entrusted with the number 10 jersey and place-kicking duties.
Rory Best was a logical choice as captain with Denis Leamy and Peter Stringer (providing he sees off Eoin Reddan) acting as able deputies.
Bob Casey’s big-game experience may see him return to the Test match arena for the first time since 2000. Exiled by the previous regime, it would be some resurrection if he was to boss the lineout against Eddie O’Sullivan’s new team.
“The number of experienced players we are bringing is important as we will have two strong oppositions on consecutive weekends to deal with and while there will be new caps during the tour, it is important that they come through while making it a positive experience,” said Kidney.
“We obviously want to win both games, but it is a balancing act trying to do that while exposing players and new combinations to test match level.”
Explaining why the senior coaches are taking full control of both tours, Kidney added: “We felt that it would be a chance for the national management to work closely with a larger pool of players than we would normally do during the season and for players to come through at this level. We are continuing to try and build a squad and this tour is a real chance for players to stake a claim for the November games and next year’s championship.”
The players will probably get better chances to impress back in their provinces, with the Lions contingent rested for the start of next season. But that should not devalue either tour as these adventures usually highlight those that are never going to make it rather than those who eventually will.
The Churchill squad is captained by Connacht’s John Muldoon and is filled with form selections like the lesser known Leicester Murphy, Northampton’s James Downey, Fergus McFadden and Seán O’Brien.
For the record, there are 12 uncapped players going on the senior tour and another 21 in the A squad.
Ireland A Churchill Cup Squad:John Andress (Exeter Chiefs), Neil Best (Northampton Saints), Isaac Boss (Ulster), Tony Buckley (Munster), Fionn Carr (Connacht), Seán Cronin (Connacht), James Downey (Northampton Saints), Dennis Fogarty (Munster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Chris Henry (Ulster), Trevor Hogan (Leinster, Denis Hurley (Munster), Felix Jones (Leinster), Simon Keogh (Leinster), Keith Matthews (Connacht), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), John Muldoon (Connacht, capt), Frank Murphy (Connacht), Johne Murphy (Leicester Tigers), Seán O'Brien (Leinster), Niall O'Connor (Ulster), Ed O'Donoghue (Ulster), Niall Ronan (Munster), Donnacha Ryan (Munster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Devon Toner (Leinster), Bryan Young (Ulster).
CHURCHILL CUP SCHEDULE:
Ireland A v Canada, Wednesday June 10th, 4.30pm(local time), Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado. Georgia v Ireland A, Sunday, June 14th, 3.30pm(local time) Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado. Finals Day, Sunday, June 21st, Dicks Sporting Goods Park, Denver, Colorado
