Andy Farrell set to reveal last Ireland hand before switching hats to Lions

BEFORE LEAVE: Andy Farrells prepares for his last games before he takes leave as Head Coach for the British and Irish Lions. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

The last time we saw Andy Farrell’s Ireland take to the field was at King’s Park in Durban just over three months ago when the tourists edged a compelling second Test against the world champion Springboks.

Add in a narrow defeat to their hosts the week before in Loftus Versfeld, and another Six Nations title last Spring, and it presents a strong argument for continuity when Farrell names his squad for the November internationals on Wednesday afternoon.

It isn’t just the results and collective and individual performances that make that case. The starting XV in Durban carried an average age of 28.33, which is just about perfect. They had players into their thirties, some in their prime and a cohort of fresher faces.

The impressive progress of Jamie Osborne, Jack Crowley and Joe McCarthy towards the front of the queue was among the most pleasing and important aspects to the post-World Cup period, suggesting as it did that the team was far from standing still.

Go back two years, to the last time the head coach named a squad for these ‘autumn’ gatherings, and he was revealing half-a-dozen uncapped players. It’s hard to see that replicated this time, even if he opts to cater for 37 bodies again.

This is Farrell’s last hands-on imprint before he takes temporary leave for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. The fact that an Ireland devoid of its best will play Georgia and Romania in that summer window points to obvious scope for experimentation then.

There is also an ‘A’ international pencilled in to the Six Nations chapter of the season but the flip side is that with four games next month rather than three – against New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia – there will inevitably be more opportunities to go around.

For some, just making it to camp would be a big step forward.

Connacht’s Shayne Bolton and Alex Kendellen of Munster are two others who returned from the Emerging Ireland tour with of credit in the bank. Simon Easterby, Farrell’s assistant and head coach for the development side, won’t be alone in having taken note.

“We know there is a medium- to long-term outlook for this tour,” said Easterby before that three-game itinerary, “but certainly in the short-term we need to build depth in every position and there is no closed book.” 

The injury picture at hooker leaves at least one door ajar. Dan Sheehan and Tom Stewart are out, we don’t know yet if Rónan Kelleher will make it back from the treatment room in time to front up first up against the All Blacks, and Rob Herring has a persistent calf issue.

Connacht’s Dave Heffernan has been around the Ireland setup enough times to fancy his chances of stepping up, Niall Scannell has 20 caps while Diarmuid Barron has lacked minutes in the last number of weeks.

It’s surely too soon for Gus McCarthy to elbow his way in.

The young Leinster academy hooker has done well in the absence of his esteemed colleagues in recent weeks, but facing the haka or an Argentinian scrum is a very different proposition to fitting in at URC level.

The same goes for even more experienced players. Take Max Deegan who has been excellent for Leo Cullen’s side in recent weeks. Does that do enough to get him back into the Ireland squad as part of a back row contingent that is littered with talent?

So much of this is coloured by the usual tide of injuries that wash up on provincial updates week after week. Among those absent of late include Ciaran Frawley, Robbie Henshaw, Joe McCarthy, Jordan Larmour, Ryan Baird, and that’s just Leinster.

Oli Jager is sidelined too, Jeremy Loughman has had a scan this week and Peter O’Mahony has a hamstring problem. O’Mahony was captain again in South Africa, but started the second Test on the bench while Doris took the lead.

Doris has already been given the equivalent role by Leinster and is being talked up as a possible, maybe even a likely, skipper for the Lions. Could this be the time when the baton passes from Munster’s veteran to the Leinster man?