Osborne and Naas signpost club route to the top

Ireland have just fielded two Six Nations squads devoid of any players who have come through the ‘Club’ pathway. But Naas show it can be done.

Sat, 18 Feb, 2023 - 07:14

Brendan O'Brien

No Tadhg Furlong for the foreseeable? No problem. Need someone to slip into Johnny Sexton’s shoes for a half-hour stint against the French? On it. In the market for a scrum-half to replace the metronomic Jamison Gibson-Park? Take your pick from the rank of alternatives.

The stocks still aren’t nearly at a point where you could sleep too soundly during a World Cup but the sight of the Finlay Bealhams, Ross Byrnes and Stuart McCloskeys of this world over the last few weeks have reduced the nightmarish prospect of an Irish team hamstrung by a handful of key absences.