Citing fear led to Devin Toner’s World Cup omission, Joe Schmidt reveals

His was the most controversial absence from Joe Schmidt’s final 31-man Ireland squad for the 2019 World Cup and the former head coach has revealed part of the reason for Devin Toner’s omission was the fear of a possible disciplinary ban.

The veteran Leinster lock had been one of the cornerstones of Ireland’s successes during Schmidt’s six-year reign as Ireland boss and a place on the plane to Japan for the head coach’s final tournament before leaving his post had been assumed to be set in stone for Toner.