Simon Easterby: Recovering stars bring added edge

Sean O’Brien and Peter O’Mahony may not have agreed with it, but Ireland assistant coach Simon Easterby believes the decision to leave the pair behind when the squad flew out to Chicago early last week was wholly justified.

The scoreline at Soldier Field would clearly back that up but Easterby’s point was more layered. The opportunity for O’Brien and O’Mahony to bag significant game time via Leinster and Munster’s less taxing outings as they return to full fitness was central to Joe Schmidt’s thought process.

O’Mahony featured for 72 minutes against Ospreys, bringing his total to 272 across five games since returning from long-term injury at the start of October. O’Brien banked just under an hour away to Zebre on Saturday evening on what was his third appearance back in harness.

Both have since joined up with the national squad in preparation for this Saturday’s meeting with Canada at the Aviva and, with 39 players involved, there will be no shortage of internal competition as players jostle for places ahead of New Zealand’s visit to Dublin on November 19.

“I think it was good that we didn’t take them to Chicago and play against New Zealand, for a number of reasons,” Easterby explained. “They’ve both come back from long-term injuries and it’s kind of a little bit of a risk sometimes to feel that you’ve got to go out and pick a team for a certain game.

“We were really comfortable with what we took to Chicago. There were a number of reasons for that but, importantly, we felt the combinations were right in the back row. Both of them got game time at the weekend and that will only serve them well in terms of their preparation.”

Easterby, who welcomed the reintegration of two such key players to the back row picture, also added that “the selection last weekend was justified in terms of the guys who got their opportunity, especially in the back row”.

Speaking minutes earlier, O’Brien admitted he hadn’t fully agreed with the decision to leave him behind.

“I would have been 100% if selected,” he declared, while accepting that he was, in fact, probably better off seeing action in Italy.

Such clarity of thought must have been difficult on Saturday night after Leinster had dispensed with Zebre and O’Brien, the rest of the players and staff crowded around some laptops at Parma Airport to watch the first half from Soldier Field. They spent the second half in the air.

“I kept popping up to the pilot and asking him to check the score,” said O’Brien. “He did, eventually.”

O’Brien and O’Mahony won’t be the only squaddies bursting for opportunity this week. Among the others will be Paddy Jackson who missed the Windy City adventure due to well-publicised ‘personal reasons’ and who could only watch as Joey Carbery took full advantage of his absence.

Jonathan Sexton was declared fully fit yesterday, but it is difficult to imagine any scenario whereby the Leinster man will start against Canada. Easterby confirmed that Jackson was ready and able to put down a marker similar to the summer when he deputised for Sexton on tour.

“With Paddy, he was outstanding in South Africa, a real leader out there in terms of the number 10 jersey and leading the team to victory in [the first Test in] Cape Town. He is fully focused now on putting his marker down again this week.

“Given the opportunity, I’m sure he will be focused on performing on the weekend, based on how impressive his last couple of outings for Ireland were. It’s a good place to be, in that position. We’ve had a couple of 10s over the years, where people have been vying for that position.”

The stakes have been raised now, but Chicago demonstrated that the depth of the squad has expanded to an extent never known before. It’s a state of affairs that must make the management’s job significantly easier this week for what is, effectively, a trial ahead of the visits of the Kiwis and Wallabies.

“It’s not necessarily easier, but it adds an edge for those guys that are coming back in, who weren’t fortunate enough to travel,” said Easterby.

“They’ll have a point to prove, but nothing changes in terms of our preparation, in terms of what we want to do to Canada, like we did to New Zealand.

“There are always individuals that feel they can improve on what they did last week, but also guys coming in who weren’t involved will want to lay down a marker and put their hands up for selection for the coming weeks. This weekend is really important, even more so because we won.

“We have a real responsibility to go out and perform and get all our stuff right against the Canadians.”