In truth, the outhalf selection debate was something of a non-issue, for Sam Prendergast was always going to start for Ireland against Scotland, whereas the most eyebrow-raising decision will be that of recalling Peter O’Mahony, followed by the decision to renew the old Connacht midfield pairing of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw.
The old dog for the hard road and all that.
O’Mahony has faced down Scotland 13 times, as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow on numerous other occasions, and the familiarity has certainly bred a fair degree of antipathy over the years. He has been on the winning side in 12 of those 13 clashes, the only loss being a 12-8 loss at Murrayfield in 2013.
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This looks like a pick for an all-Celtic Cup tie, the Munster captain for a decade also captained Ireland to last season’s title success which was completed by a tenth successive win over Scotland in Dublin last March. The one caveat is that O’Mahony’s presence is sure to fire up the vengeful Scots as well.
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Any pack featuring the current Leinster and Irish captain, albeit new to the job, the current Munster captain as well as the sometime Leinster and Irish captain, can hardly be described as lacking in leadership, albeit O’Mahony comes into the match-day 23 ahead of the Ulster captain Iain Henderson.
Still, O’Mahony is one of the last old school leaders, and as well as his smarts and voice, one imagines he has been recalled for his organisational skills, especially around lineout defence and attack, and maul defence and attack.
Ireland had three five-metre lineouts off penalties last week against England and didn’t score off one of them, while statistically Scotland have one of the most potent lineout mauls around. Generally, when O’Mahony is in a Munster or Irish pack, you can throw a blanket over them.
After playing as a sub in three autumn games against New Zealand, Argentina and Australia, admittedly the 113-times capped, 35-year-old has only played one hour, against Northampton, since a stud lodged itself into his calf away to Castres before Christmas.
Clearly, O’Mahony’s abilities remain highly valued by Easterby, who was a specialist six with supreme lineout skills himself, and Paul O’Connell, for the interim head coach indicated that only O’Mahony’s lack of game time and conditioning kept him out of consideration for the opening game against England.
“With Pete, we spoke before the England week and having come into camp with a little bit less rugby under his belt we felt that he needed another week to work on a little bit of conditioning.
“I think he supported the guys last week incredibly well. Bairdo did well in terms of his lineout work was excellent – Pete brings that – but he also brings experience which at the moment some other players can’t offer.
“It’s probably a decision we’ve been thinking about for a couple of weeks, but after the England performance it was a chance to bring Pete in, bring his experience to the table and keep Bairdo involved off the bench.”
As for O’Mahony’s proven winning mentality, not least against Scotland, Easterby said: “He just has that ability, doesn’t he, to play big when it’s needed. He has the edge around him in training last week when he wasn’t involved. He brought a lot of competition into the group for those that were starting.
“He was disappointed not to get the selection in the 15 or 23 for England, so I think what he does do when he plays against sides like Scotland is he plays right on the edge. He’s confrontational. He leads by example. Other players will certainly follow that example.
“I think he brings that type of experience that clearly takes time and caps to build to take on a team like Scotland at Murrayfield. He brings a lot of different dynamics. He’s brilliant around the group when he’s not involved in the 23, but it’s a different dynamic when he is involved.”
Similarly, the interim head coach also revealed that rotating Ireland’s three centres of excellence by having Aki and Henshaw back in harness for this game was somewhat pre-planned.
Garry Ringrose will this time be the one looking to make an impact off the bench, and perhaps he has a minor issue, for he did receive treatment in the win over England.
Perhaps too Easterby and co are conscious that Ringrose is an enthusiastic adherent of Jacques Nienaber’s outside-in blitz defence, which is not Ireland’s modus operandi. It might also be particularly risky against this Scotland team given Finn Russell’s ability to play to the edge with his passing from hand and foot. Rather, Ireland will need to keep a defensive shape and use the touchlines, because that’s where Scotland like to go.
“We’ve got three brilliant centres in the squad who are playing really well at the moment,” said Easterby in acknowledging how well the Aki-Ringrose combination went last week and Henshaw’s impact off the bench.
“It was always our intention over the first couple of weeks to mix it up in that area. All three were playing well coming into camp, all three trained well and all contributed last weekend.
“Ringer covers the wing for us as well as centre, which means when he’s in the game at 60/65 minutes – the way he plays the game and how much he puts into his performance – it’s probably an opportunity for him to come on later in the game and be a bit fresher, a bit like Robbie did.
“It was a tough decision leaving Ringer out, but it was the right decision in terms of sharing the load between the three of them. Ringer played the full 80 last week, whereas Bundee came off a little earlier.”
In retaining Prendergast at outhalf, Easterby said it was important to keep some continuity, while acknowledging that like others, Jack Crowley had a very positive impact off the bench, not least in ensuring Ireland played in the right areas of the pitch.
Crowley, and others, were “disappointed” not to be starting but Easterby praised his support of Prendergast.
“He’s a great fellah and we’re lucky to have both of them,” said Easterby.
“We’re in a position where we’re trying to grow both of them and trying to grow Sam’s experiences, not just at home last week in a huge game for him and for us as a team, but also now going away from home. How does he handle those types of experiences which is very different to last weekend?”
Ireland team to play Scotland: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Finlay Bealham; James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris. Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Thomas Clarkson, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley, Garry Ringrose.
