And so it has come to pass. If historians ever come to revisit Andy Farrell’s squad announcement for the 2024 Autumn Nations Series its most notable aspect will probably be the passing of the baton as captain to Caelan Doris. He was only conferred as Leinster captain last month but he already looked like a prospective Lions king.
Allowing for the Peter O’Mahony interregnum for last season’s Six Nations, and a deserving promotion it was too for someone who captained Munster for a decade, Ireland rugby teams have tended to have a go-to leader for the duration of World Cup cycles.
Brian O’Driscoll was the captain for the 2007 and 2011 cycles, to be followed by Paul O’Connell (2012-15), Rory Best (2016-19) and Johnny Sexton (2020-23). Now we are entering the Doris era, and at 26 who is to say for how long. But certainly up until the 2027 World Cup in the USA and potentially beyond looks probable.
One always had the impression that Farrell identified Doris as captain for this cycle quicker than the player himself did, and that being the modest type he is, Doris didn’t particularly aspire to the role. Farrell’s thinking was evident from the second round of last season’s Six Nations, when he named Doris captain ahead of James Ryan in the absence of O’Mahony.
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His thinking is entirely understandable, for whether or not Doris becomes a great orator in time, he leads by deed and, if fit and well, is a world-class player and is one of the first names on the team sheet. Perhaps the first.
Doris also has an aura or presence about him, and just because his anointment was inevitable doesn’t make it any less of a landmark. Especially so in a largely predictable reprise of the 35-man squad initially named for last summer’s two-Test tour to South Africa save for five changes, all injury related.
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Where Dan Sheehan was one of the three hookers then, only to be replaced by Dave Heffernan, after his ACL injury in the first Test, now the Connacht man is named alongside Rónan Kelleher and Rob Herring. Despite both being sidelined, the expectation clearly is that Herring, and at a push Kelleher, will be fit for the opening game against the All Blacks.
With Oli Jager injured, the other five props are retained, while the fit-again Iain Henderson is added to the other locks. Having been ruled out of the South African tour, Jamison Gibson-Park returns at the expense of Nathan Doak. The other two changes see the return of the Mack, in the guise the fit-again Hansen, and Hugo Keenan, after his secondment to the Ireland Olympic Sevens squad.
The injured Jordan Larmour and Jimmy O’Brien miss out, as does the unlucky Jack Conan. Hence Cian Prendergast and the uncapped Cormac Izuchukwu are retained, as is the former’s brother Sam, who is the only other uncapped player.
Farrell has an eye for prospective Test match players, witness the unhesitating promotion of Gibson-Park to the matchday 23 even when he was ostensibly number two at Leinster, and likewise Joe McCarthy, Hansen and Jamie Osborne, not least as a fullback.
Although Farrell’s thinking at outhalf appears to have influenced Leinster this season, he doesn’t tell the provinces what to do, he shows them.
Perhaps in part because of the increasing logjam at Leinster given Frawley’s conversion to 10 and the emergence of Sam Prendergast in addition to Ross and Harry Byrne, it almost seemed as if this season’s Emerging Ireland tour was devised more for the younger Prendergast sibling than any other player.
He started all three games, was given his head in organising the team’s attacking play and received effusive praise from the stand-in head coach Simon Easterby, who will deputise for Farrell again in the Six Nations when Ireland seek a historic three titles in a row.
Given Izuchukwu was also on both the senior tour and Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa, it seems reasonable to deduce that Farrell and Easterby also admire the athletic Ulster backrower, whose emergence may have happened sooner but for injuries.
It therefore also seems reasonable to speculate that both Izuchukwu and Prendergast are being earmarked for Test debuts in this window, with the third game against Fiji looking like an ideal opportunity to do so.
The absence of the unlucky Jack Conan again, after he suffered a hamstring injury in Leinster’s win over Munster and the likely absence of O’Mahony, until halfway through the window, reduces Farrell’s options in the backrow. For the opening game against the All Blacks, the likelier ploy is move Tadhg Beirne to blindside in accommodating Ryan and McCarthy in the secondrow, as in the second Test win over the Springboks, or picking two from those three at lock and start Ryan Baird in the backrow.
Ciarán Frawley is putting pressure on Jack Crowley, but despite his mixed start to the season with Munster he is likely to be retained alongside the returning Gibson-Park. Bundee Aki’s extra sharpness and fitness could see him start against the All Blacks alongside Garry Ringrose, while the back three looks more competitive with the return of Hansen, Keenan, and not to mention the sight of Jacob Stockdale back to his attacking best.
While he has earned some game time in this window, his problem is that James Lowe has become such an integral part of the team with his hefty left boot, physicality, offloading and finishing. Then there’s Osborne, outstanding at fullback in both Tests in South Africa and excellent for Leinster at inside centre this season, form and versatility which will be hard to resist in the matchday squad against the All Blacks.
As well as an eye for prospective internationals, Farrell places great store by loyalty, with O’Mahony named despite being restricted to just 23 minutes of Munster’s URC round three fixture. There are also places for the other two current centurions, scrumhalf Conor Murray and Cian Healy as one of five props.
Healy can, of course, also cover hooker in an emergency, an invaluable commodity in the modern era. Currently on 131 caps, Healy is thus in line to equal and perhaps surpass O’Driscoll’s all-time Irish record of 133 caps.
Ireland squad for Autumn Nations Series
Forwards (19): Ryan Baird (Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Caelan Doris (Leinster, capt), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Dave Heffernan (Connacht), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Rob Herring (Ulster), Cormac Izuchukwu (Ulster), Rónan Kelleher (Leinster), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Andrew Porter (Leinster), Cian Prendergast (Connacht), James Ryan (Leinster), Nick Timoney (Ulster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster).
Backs (16): Bundee Aki (Connacht), Craig Casey (Munster), Jack Crowley (Munster), Ciarán Frawley (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster), Mack Hansen (Connacht), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), Hugo Keenan (Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Conor Murray (Munster), Calvin Nash (Munster), Jamie Osborne (Leinster), Sam Prendergast (Leinster), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster).
Training Panellists (5): Thomas Clarkson (Leinster), Alex Kendellen (Munster), Shayne Bolton (Connacht), Jack Boyle (Leinster), Gus McCarthy (Leinster).
