VIDEO: 14 changes for Ireland as Schmidt takes time to tinker

There has been no cosy chat to compare likely team selections this time, but the respective sides named by Joe Schmidt and Vern Cotter for tomorrow’s World Cup warm-up between Ireland and Scotland in Dublin nonetheless made clear the fact the experimentation phase is far from over.

“Not at all about the teamsheets,” said Schmidt when asked if he had chewed the fat about their respective needs with Cotter, his pal and old Clermont Auvergne boss, just as he had with Warren Gatland a week earlier before the seasonal loosener with Wales. The resultis broadly similar.

This time it is another experimental opponent that will provide the litmus test for a slew of World Cup hopefuls and Ireland are, in reality, not much further along the curve in a collective sense given Schmidt has opted for 14 changes from the XV that fronted up against the Welsh.