Former Irish and Munster secondrow and current Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell has dismissed the notion of a Leinster bias in the selection of the Irish squad, who are currently warm-weather training in the Portuguese resort of Quinta do Lago.
O’Connell added that while marginal decisions are often difficult to make during selection meetings there has never been a discussion as to what province the players come from or who they play with.
Former Irish winger Simon Zebo posted on social media after the current squad was announced that “no slim reaper is mental”.
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He was referring to the absence of Tom Ahern, who was given the nickname by his Munster team-mates. The 24-year-old has been part of the Emerging Ireland squad but has yet to be capped.
“The 50/50s are really hard, there’s always a bit of gut on it,” said O’Connell, who did not discuss any names. “A 50/50 is never decided on ‘oh, he plays with such and such a player with his province’. We’ve never had that conversation.
“We’re aware of it, that Leinster are very strong and win a lot of their games. We always talk when we’re giving a player a chance that we want to give him a chance in a good team to perform. Generally when you get a chance with Leinster at the moment you get a chance in a good team.”
Leinster remain unbeaten this season across all competitions, and face a difficult match against Stormers on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium in the United Rugby Championship (URC).
As an ex-Munster player O’Connell is aware of the sharp rivalry between Munster and Leinster and has had many “tough battles” with Leinster over the years, but said Ireland have not selected or overlooked players even if one province dominates the national team.
“It’s never ever...we’ve never actually not selected a Leinster person because we’re worried that we’ve too many Leinster players in the squad, and we’ve never selected a player because we felt that ‘he’s playing with Leinster and he has a combination’, you know?
“We’re trying to pick the best players for the team, the best players that I suppose play the best for us and make the team feel good, prepare well and be in the best place to perform. I understand the perception but it’s never entered the conversation.”
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