Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has announced his 40 man squad for their series in New Zealand. Obviously playing the All Blacks will be incredibly demanding physically, so naming 40 men to the squad will be needed for depth reasons as most of the players will experience a lot of bumps and bruises. That being said, there’s a lot of talent on this squad, but most importantly there’s a lot of experience and plenty of youth. With the World Cup just next year, Farrell will have this opportunity to prepare his squad for that tournament as well as the 2023 Six Nations and see who his best side will be. This should all be a good way to get players some looks before making his selections for Six Nations and the World Cup. Let's take a look at the squad Farrell has selected.
Backs:
Bundee Aki (37)
Harry Byrne (2)
Joey Carbery (32)
Craig Casey (5)
Keith Earls (96)
Ciaran Frawley *
Jamison Gibson Park (17)
Mack Hansen (4)
Robbie Henshaw (57)
James Hume (3)
Hugo Keenan (20)
Jordan Larmour (30)
James Lowe (12)
Michael Lowry (1)
Conor Murray (96)
Jimmy O’Brien*
Garry Ringrose (42)
Jonathan Sexton (capt) (105)
Forwards:
Ryan Baird (8)
Finlay Bealham (23)
Tadhg Beirne (30)
Jack Conan (27)
Gavin Coombes (2)
Caelan Doris (17)
Tadhg Furlong (57)
Cian Healy (116)
Dave Heffernan (6)
Iain Henderson (68)
Rob Herring (26)
Jeremy Loughman*
Joe McCarthy*
Peter O’Mahony (84)
Tom O’Toole (2)
Andrew Porter (43)
Cian Prendergast*
James Ryan (43)
Dan Sheehan (7)
Nick Timoney (2)
Kieran Treadwell (5)
Josh van der Flier (40)
* Denotes uncapped player
Caps in parentheses
Now this isn’t necessarily the strongest possible squad that Farrell could field as there are some injuries to players such as Jacob Stockdale, Andrew Conway, Ronan Kelleher. Robert Baloucoune, Dave Kilcoyne, Jack Carty, and Chris Farrell, and there’s also interesting exclusions such as Stuart McCloskey, but that means mostly that he is getting some looks at the younger players to see where they will fit in his plans for next year. Remember, while these are big matches, it does not mean that a loss is as big of a deal. This series in New Zealand will give Farrell and opportunity for different lineup combinations and try out some new plays, plus to give the younger players experience and to keep his veterans fresh. It is likely the 23 man squad will look different every day and with different starters plus a different bench. There are five matches to be played with two of them against the Maori All Blacks and the rest against the All Blacks, so there’s going to be plenty of opportunities for all the 40 players.
Of course captain Jonathan Sexton will be manning the 10 jersey for the Irish, but Joey Carbery will likely get some playing time and talented flyhalf Harry Byrne expected to get some chances as well. The scrumhalf position looks to have the same type of situation, but Farrell may elect to have Conor Murray come in as a substitute with Jamison Gibson-Park getting the starts. Craig Casey is looked at as the future at the 9 jersey, so like Byrne, expect him to get some playing time.
Another thing to look at will be at hooker as it will be expected that Dan Sheehan and Rob Herring get the bulk of playing time. While Heffernan should get some playing time, he may not get the start. With Kelleher out, this should help Farrell with whom to bring to the World Cup.
There is plenty of inexperience here with either getting few caps or will make their debut, but it’s clear the talent is there especially when certain players are getting towards the end of their careers. Experience here will help the youngsters getting ready for the World Cup next year and this should also make their depth a lot better.
While the results mean a lot, this tour to New Zealand should be more looked at for preparing for the World Cup. Expect a lot of different lineup combinations and match day squads, plus Farrell to use new attack plans. It also helps to play the mighty All Blacks as that can make any other nation stronger in preparing for the World Cup.
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