Les Kiss: World Cup squad places are still ‘open’

Les Kiss insists the Ireland team management remains “very open” to players elbowing their way into the final panel of 31 for the Rugby World Cup when the side faces Wales in the third warm-up Test – and last before the squad deadline – this Saturday.

Joe Schmidt and the other 19 team coaches have until Sunday to inform World Rugby of their chosen names, after which Ireland will face England in Twickenham in the last of their rehearsals before the real thing gets underway in mid-September.

It promises to be a busy weekend for the brains trust, with the game at the Aviva Stadium to be followed by DVD reruns of the Wales outing and those provincial pre-season games involving other fringe members of the Ireland panel on Friday, as well as the inevitable medical briefings.

“We won’t get much sleep, put it that way,” said Kiss.

There was some early news on the medical side of things yesterday with Andrew Trimble recovering promisingly from the toe and foot bruising he suffered in the opening run-out against Wales in Cardiff. The other significant prognoses were less clear.

Cian Healy continues to take an ever greater part in training, though he is still some distance away from taking the field. Marty Moore, whose foot is still being cushioned by a protective moon boot, may or may not take part this weekend.

The plan is for Moore to train tomorrow. After that, it is a case of wait and see, but the Leinster prop has already lost valuable ground in the contest to provide back-up to Mike Ross, with Connacht’s Nathan White fit and featuring against Scotland last time out.

“One thing Nathan has done is he has got fit,” said Kiss. “He is in good fettle so from that perspective he has put himself in a place where we are standing up and taking notice at what he is delivering. Marty has lost an opportunity, without a doubt.”

With at least half-a-dozen front-liners still to see playing time, the expectation is that the side that plays this week will be considerably closer to ‘first-choice’ than either of those seen so far even if there will inevitably be those on display for whom it will be a final audition.

Schmidt has kept everyone on their toes by refusing to deal in definitive cuts like his fellow coaching colleagues and Kiss stressed again the necessity to have up to 15 players on the tip of their toes ready to leap at the chance of answering an SOS from England.

“Very open,” said Kiss of their options at this late date. “Obviously, on a weekly basis you are assessing where you are. You try to look forward to see what type of team you’ll play throughout the warm-ups and going forward. So you’re trying to design who will fit in where and see where it goes.

“We’ve got an idea of certain positions but we’ve got an open mind and hopefully nothing else intervenes like injury and we’ve just got a clean sheet to work with. Overall, it’s been a really good process that we just haven’t locked in and closed people out.”