Simon Easterby: Ireland’s call hard earned

The phoney war may well be starting in Cardiff on Saturday as Ireland plays the first of its four World Cup warm-up Tests but however much experimentation will be seen when Joe Schmidt today unveils his team to face Wales, the camp are insisting there will be no cheap caps.

Having promised that even those involved in the back-to-back Six Nations championship successes are not guaranteed their places when the tournament begins next month, forwards coach Simon Easterby has also insisted that this weekend’s mission will not see players handed an Irish jersey on a whim.

Places in the final 31-man squad to be named on September 6 are still very much up for grabs but in deciding who should face Warren Gatland’s Wales side at a sold-out Millennium Stadium, the Ireland management want to give chances only to those in the extended 46-man group currently in camp at Carton House that they feel merit the right to stake a claim.