Ireland attack coach Mike Catt has intimated that Andy Farrell may rotate the Irish squad to some degree for next Sunday’s second round Guinness 2024 Six Nations game against Italy at the Aviva Stadium (3pm).
Following on from last Friday’s 38-17 defeat of France in Marseille, Oli Jager has been formally added to the squad, and it would be no surprise to see some of the replacements used in that game being promoted to the starting XV, not least as Catt likened this Six Nations campaign to the recent World Cup.
“Well, I think first and foremost it’s who’s available, who comes through all right. Secondly, I think we are in a good position in terms of players that have been in with us over the past two, three, four years.
“Nobody is really new to it, so for people to fit in if they need to get their opportunity, it’s crucial for us to have that squad.
“It’s a little bit like at the World Cup, you need a squad of players to produce in the Six Nations, and I think we have done that really well.
“The players that we have currently got, whoever we might pick to build momentum, we are confident that they can all fit in.”
Ireland's magic night in Marseille
It remains to be seen whether Ireland will have a fully fit squad to choose from, as was claimed last week before it emerged that Garry Ringrose had been ruled out with a shoulder injury sustained against Leicester a week previously,
“There are a few guys obviously with a few bumps and bruises from Friday night,” said Catt. “There are a couple that are still rumbling around. We will make our decision [later], but we are pretty confident that everybody will be fit to train fully tomorrow and obviously selection on Friday. There are a few bumps and bruises, but we are alright.”
When asked about the heavy strapping which was applied to Calvin Nash’s right leg in training, Catt said: “Calvin, Hugo [Keenan], Ringer is coming through nicely. He [Ringrose] obviously didn’t train today, but he is progressing nicely. We will see how they pull up over the next couple of days.”
Catt could afford to reflect on a good night’s work by the Irish team in scoring five tries away to France for the first time in history.
“I think it was just the balance of it,” he said. “We mauled well, we scored some good maul tries, we played to width quite nicely too. The variation was good. When you look at it in the cold light of day there were quite a few opportunities, [we] could have made it a little bit easier for ourselves.
“When you are playing against a French side like that it’s not an easy thing to do. We are pleased but like the start of every competition you’ve always got something to work on so we’ll keep striving for our potential.”
On foot of that win, Ireland are now odds-on to win back-to-back Grand Slams for the first time in history, but while that may be the expectations outside the squad, Catt said there was no such chat within it.
“There’s no need to, is there? Andy has always spoken about the next performance, that’s been the key thing. From the players’ point of view, too, the Grand Slam will take care of itself if we perform to a level we are capable of performing. It’s making sure we put our focus on that and don’t worry about the external noise.”
Previously attack coach with England and Italy, this is Catt’s fifth and last Six Nations campaign with Ireland, having come aboard the ticket after Farrell was appointed head coach in the aftermath of the 2019 World Cup.
“For the past four years I’ve taken in every moment, to be honest. It is an incredible environment, an incredible group of players, incredible backroom staff so for me it is enjoying the moment. I am quite good at that. I don’t look too far into the future. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and I’ll keep doing that till the end.”
