Ireland were still assessing an unspecified number of unidentified injuries in Port Elizabeth yesterday before finalising their starting XV and replacements for their 17th and final Test match of an arduous campaign in Saturday's series decider against the Springboks.
Scrum coach Greg Feek admitted that not all of the remaining 31 players in camp resumed training yesterday. "Just a couple who had a break but nothing too major at this stage. Just trying to get through the week," said Feek, who added: "Obviously we were sensible today in training."
Having limped off toward the tail-end of last Saturday's game, there is speculation Jared Payne still might not have fully recovered from "cramp". Presumably he was one of those who did not train yesterday, with Tiernan O'Halloran's presence raising speculation that he will again be in the match-day 23 and possibly the starting XV. That could also be caused by Payne reverting to outside centre.
Either way, the likelihood is that Mike Ross, CJ Stander, Jordi Murphy, Ultan Dillane, Luke Marshall, Keith Earls, Seán Cronin and perhaps the hitherto unused Eoin Reddan will all return to the mix.
“We’ll see how the guys front up after today but there are certainly some options because some guys obviously played really well in the first Test and in that first 60 of the second Test,” said Feek.
After being sent off in the 23rd minute of the first Test, and suspended for the second, one imagines Stander (whose infectious enthusiasm would give renewed energy to any team) is straining at the leash. “Yeah, he’s chained up,” said Feek, laughing. “He’s a special man. On and off the field, he’s a great team man.”
Although there were a limited number of scrums last Saturday, 10 in total, Feek and co could reflect on a job well done. In his first Test, Tadhg Furlong – backed up by Quinn Roux on his debut – went well in the scrums after conceding a penalty at the first put-in, coming back with two powerful scrums of their own to earn penalties. All in all, that was particularly encouraging.
This tour appears to have been hugely beneficial for Furlong. “I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, and in any position you can have your ups and downs, but I think once you’ve done one good performance like that, or a performance where you can say he set a standard, then he’s got a benchmark and the same with a lot of guys that have come in.”
Furlong’s performance was particularly encouraging given Ross cannot go on for too much longer, although Feek was not inclined to put a time limit on Oul Man River given “the fact that he’s started later in his career”.
Kick him out
“I just keep telling him: ‘Don’t sit too long in your seat, get up and down, stretch, do your core work, keep fit, look after those joints and age doesn’t really matter.’ He’s a good man to have around the team and like I said, he played pretty well in the first Test. How long? I dunno. It will depend on when Tadhg decides to kick him out, or whoever else is coming through.”
Nor would Feek be surprised if Ross followed him into scrum coaching. “He’d have plenty of options, Rossy. He’s got the computer side of it, media maybe. He’s dabbled in lots of things. I’d certainly support him if he did decide to go into coaching.”
