Time to rally behind the troops

THE FOREMOST emotion on occasions like this is one of sympathy for those who have missed out on selection.

Foremost among them is Tomás O’Leary, who appeared to be Declan Kidney’s number one choice at scrum-half for so long. Then you have John Hayes, whose career is now almost certainly at an end, other veterans like Peter Stringer, Marcus Horan and Mick O’Driscoll, the talented but enigmatic Luke Fitzgerald, along with those ruled out by injury.

O’Leary’s form had been inconsistent prior to Saturday’s defeat to France, largely due to a series of injuries and a difficulty in performing the primary duties of an international number nine. And when nothing went right for him against the French, Kidney was forced into a rethink. Having already dispensed with Peter Stringer and decided that Conor Murray was a man for the future rather than the present, he has executed a u-turn in opting for the youthful Garryowen player along with Eoin Reddan, whose place was assured, and Isaac Boss.