Fringe players must impress in interprovincial derbies for tour to South Africa

Joe Schmidt has challenged Ireland’s fringe players to use the upcoming interprovincial derbies to stake their claim for places in his squad for June’s three Test tour to South Africa.

Schmidt saw his team close out the 2016 RBS 6 Nations with a 35-25 victory over Scotland on Saturday that meant his outgoing titleholders finished third in the table behind Wales and new champions, Grand Slam winners England.

It was a campaign which saw Schmidt forced to plan without retired captain Paul O’Connell and experienced but injured stars Tommy Bowe, Luke Fitzgerald, Iain Henderson, and Peter O’Mahony, while Sean O’Brien and Dave Kearney fell by the wayside during the campaign and Cian Healy and Mike Ross only returned from injury in round three.