Just three days before Andy Farrell announced his Six Nations squad, James Lowe came off the bench for Leinster and scored in their shellacking of Montpellier. When you think about time off that is given to players after match day, it is likely that he only had one training session in which to injure himself before Farrell named his squad.
That is exactly what happened as a muscle problem picked up with Leinster cost Lowe a spot in Farrell’s 37-strong group. Talk about bad luck.
His omission opens up a spot in what otherwise should be a settled Ireland XV for Saturday's opener against Wales. The form of Robbie Henshaw and Tadhg Beirne may force them back in (Henshaw missed November's All Blacks clash through injury while Beirne was on the bench), but the only truly open slot is on Lowe's left wing.
Keith Earls is the experienced option and he regularly fills the 11 shirt for Munster with Andrew Conway, the other Ireland incumbent, on the opposite flank. If a reminder of the threat of Earls' speed and footwork is needed, think back to Ireland's last Six Nations game and what he did to Jonny May when running in that famous try off the back of an acrobatic Jack Conan offload.
Earls’ versatility will likely ensure a spot in the 23, be it starting or on the bench, given his ability to cover 13. He did so in the All Blacks game and Conway has recently spoken of how secure he felt playing in the defensive line with Earls inside him.
Ulster's Robert Baloucoune is also an option. Though he lines up on the right wing for his province, Farrell is an admirer of the Eniskillen man having named him as a development player in the international squad back in 2020 when he was just 22.
Baloucoune is arguably the most complete wing Ireland have in terms of desired skillset. He has both speed and height (6ft4in), factors which help him to beat defenders and be fantastic under the high ball. A backthree of Baloucoune, Conway and Keenan could well be the most aerially secure that Ireland have named in a long time.
Baloucoune also has an excellent handling game not dissimilar to Lowe’s and knows when to use it well - two try-scoring offloads during Ulster’s win in Northampton spring to mind.
Jordan Larmour is back in the squad, potentially at the expense of Lowe. While he has clearly dropped down the pecking order having not been named in the group for November’s Tests, he had a welcome return to form in the latest rounds of European action. 197 metres gained with three clean breaks makes for good reading, particularly when you remember he only played one half against Montpellier.
Mack Hansen
The interesting case is Connacht’s Mack Hansen.
Think back to Farrell’s comments on Lowe during the November window: “He finds a way into the game…he’s not a tidy player. But neither do we want our wingers to be tidy players.”
Farrell wants his wings to come in off their flanks to get involved in attack. Lowe is a major proponent of this philosophy - how many times in November did we see him pop up in a midfield forward pod to get his hands on the ball, break the gainline and use his handling skills to cause havoc with his offloading game?
In this vein, Hansen is the most untidy wing in Ireland’s current squad and the closest to a like-for-like replacement for Lowe.
His URC numbers back this up. Hansen leads the league in defenders beaten (38), total metres made (556), while he is third in the amount of carries (90). The two players above him in the latter category both played last weekend while Hansen was in Portugal with Ireland, and they are both backrows, positions that traditionally carry far more often than a wing.
Speaking recently to Off The Ball, Connacht coach Andy Friend revealed that Hansen's preferred position is actually fullback. He also can cover '10' and Connacht plan to utilise him there at some point. He clearly has outstanding distribution skills to go with a desire to get come off his wing - big boxes to tick as far as Farrell is concerned.
This is not to say Ireland’s other wide options cannot or do not look for greater attacking involvement, but rather that Hansen simply does it more and to good effect.
The issue is that Hansen is uncapped and Ireland rarely test untried options during the Six Nations. Many remember Lowe’s defensive struggles a year ago - how would Hansen fare in this regard?
It all depends on what Farrell is prioritising; experience, a like-for-like replacement for Lowe or perhaps something else entirely.
If Hansen were to earn a debut soon, eyebrows will be raised given the calibre of Ireland’s other options. Hansen’s numbers and Farrell’s public comments on his ideal wing suggest that maybe it should not come as such a shock.
