Marty Moore is set to continue his striking progress in what is effectively his breakthrough year by being named in Joe Schmidt's match-day squad on Friday for Ireland' Six Nations opener against Scotland.
Given the attritional nature of the game and for front-rowers in particular, and with a six-day turnaround before hosting Wales, the 22-year-old Leinster tight-head should make his Irish debut on Sunday.
Beyond declaring his probably front-row and front-row replacements, Schmidt did not declare his hand too forcibly yesterday when culling the original 44-man squad to 34 for the forthcoming games at home to Scotland and Wales. However, with Stephen Archer, David Kilcoyne and Rodney Ah You all omitted, along with the hookers Rob Herring and Damien Varley, and despite Richardt Strauss’ second-half performance for the Wolfhounds in their win over the Saxons in Kingsholm on Saturday night, this leaves only two players per position across the front-row.
Thus Jack McGrath and Sean Cronin are again liable to be on the bench, behind Cian Healy, Rory best and Mike Ross, as was the case in Ireland's last outing against New Zealand last November. The only alteration sees Moore effectively come in for Declan Fitzpatrick.
Other decisions
Otherwise, Schmidt has delayed other decisions for the time being. All five locks are retained, if one includes Ian Henderson in that bracket, as are seven of the eight original loose forwards – the exception being Robbie Diack. The inclusion of all three back-rowers from the Wolfhounds game – Rhys Ruddock, Tommy O'Donnell and Robin Copeland, as well as the uncapped replacement Jordi Murphy – have been retained, which suggests, not unreasonably, that their performances in Gloucester have given Schmidt and co food for thought.
Unused replacement
Isaac Boss, an unused replacement against the All Blacks, and Kieran Marmion have also missed out, leaving Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan as the only two scrum-halves left in the squad. Ian Keatley has also returned to Munster, while of course Keith Earls is injured, but the likelihood remains that Ian Madigan's versatility will earn him a slot on the bench given his ability to cover 10, 12 and fullback, ahead of Paddy Jackson, as was the case in the autumn.
Indeed, conceivably as many as 13 of the starting line-up which faced the All Blacks could retain their places, with the exceptions being wing and openside in place of the injured Tommy Bowe and Sean O'Brien. Luke Fitzgerald, a replacement against the All Blacks, has the form and match hardness to earn a recall ahead of Fergus McFadden and Andrew Trimble, whereas Simon Zebo and Craig Gilroy, the starting wings against Wales a year ago in the opener, didn't make yesterday's cut after being called up as late additions and featuring against the Saxons.
As for openside, Chris Henry is perhaps favourite to start, although with Kevin McLaughlin now out of favour, there’s also a place on the bench up for grabs as back-row cover, with Murphy’s versatility enhancing his claims.
Meanwhile, the IRFU have signed a six-year €20 million deal with clothing brand Canterbury to become its official supplier. Canterbury will take over from Puma from September 1st, with the senior side wearing the new jersey in November against South Africa in Dublin. Puma announced last January that they were to cut short their eight-year €40 million agreement with the IRFU as part of a global exit from the rugby market.
