Back row bonanza presents ‘lovely’ headache for Schmidt

Just imagine for a second if Ireland had managed to close out that agonising end game against New Zealand last November.

Coupled with what transpired at the Stade de France last Saturday, it would have made for some debut season for Joe Schmidt and some farewell for that boy O’Driscoll.

In some respects, Ireland may be better served having some unfinished business to attend to. Compared to where we were this time last season, this group of players have come a long way. Comparisons are a bit unfair given the devastating and unrelenting list of catastrophic injuries that accompanied Ireland’s 2013 Six Nations campaign but with the likes of Tommy Bowe, Sean O’Brien, Keith Earls, Donnacha Ryan, Simon Zebo and Luke Fitzgerald ruled out for all or part of the tournament, it isn’t as if Schmidt avoided sleepless nights either.