Munster-bound Beirne gets call for Oz tour
SCARLETS’ Tadhg Beirne is in line to win his first cap for Ireland next month after Joe Schmidt included the lock in his 32-man squad to tour Australia. Beirne is one of two uncapped players selected by Schmidt, with Leinster out-half Ross Byrne also making the cut ahead of Munster No 10 Ian Keatley. While Beirne is currently contracted to the Scarlets, Saturday’s Pro14 final against Leinster will be his last appearance for the Welsh region before his summer move to Munster. Let go by Leinster two years ago, the Kildare native has played a key role in Scarlets’ success since joining in 2016, helping Wayne Pivac’s team to end a 13-year trophy drought with a Pro12 title 12 months ago before earning a nomination for European Player of the Year for his efforts in the Champions Cup this season. Schmidt has also included injured duo Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki in his squad, though there is no place for Leinster scrum-half Luke McGrath, with John Cooney earning a rare call up to fight it out with Conor Murray and Kieran Marmion for the scrum-half position. Ireland begin their three-Test tour on June 9 in Brisbane.
AT THIS stage, there should have been few eyebrows raised when Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt revealed his squad for next month’s three-game tour of Australia. Johnny Sexton? Check. Conor Murray? Check. Tadhg Furlong? Rob Kearney? Rory Best? All present.
The message is crystal clear — Schmidt is chasing a series win down under.
Ahead of next year’s World Cup in Japan, and on the back of the Grand Slam success, the head coach’s intention is to keep that winning feeling going for as long as he can.
And so, despite concerns over the condition of some of Schmidt’s key men after another long season — particularly those who toured with the Lions last summer — all of the Kiwi’s most trusted lieutenants will be in tow for Ireland’s first trip to Australia in eight years.
On that occasion, Ireland fell to a 22-15 defeat in Brisbane two weeks after a 66-28 hammering by New Zealand.
At the World Cup 18 months later, Declan Kidney’s squad limped out in the quarterfinals with a tame 22-10 defeat to Wales.
The goal for Japan 2019 is to at least reach the semi-finals, and with that in mind Schmidt is treating this tour with the utmost respect. Every player that started the Grand Slam-clinching win over England in Twickenham is part of the 32-man group bound for the Gold Coast.
With so many tried and trusted players getting the nod, the most interesting aspect of the selection is those who are looking to force their way into Schmidt’s plans.
There are two uncapped players, Leinster’s Ross Byrne and Munster-bound Tadhg Beirne, who plays his last game for Scarlets in Saturday’s Pro14 final.
The inclusion of out-half Byrne feels long overdue; while Schmidt has favoured his Leinster team-mate Joey Carbery as backup to Johnny Sexton with Ireland, it is Byrne who plays that role at provincial level. Carbery — primarily selected at fullback — made just one of his 10 starts for the Blues this season at out-half, a disappointing home defeat to Treviso.
Byrne, on the other hand, has impressed with his kicking ability, decision-making and general play in 19 starts at No 10, with a further seven appearances off the bench.
The selection of Beirne is little surprise either; the Kildare native spent some time at Ireland’s Carton House training camp during the Six Nations in order to familiarise himself with the demands of life in a Schmidt squad.
There are not likely to be any changes to the 32-man list, providing there are no injuries from Saturday’s Pro14 final. Even Robbie Henshaw — who looks set to miss the Lansdowne Road decider with a knee injury — and Connacht’s Bundee Aki — who was pulled from the Barbarians squad to face England due to an ankle problem — have been given the green light.
‘This has probably been the most difficult selection process for the coaching group to date,’ said Schmidt.
‘We sat down on Monday morning to review the last pieces of footage and to discuss the balance and combinations that we felt we might need in Australia. At midday [yesterday] we made the final decisions which included a number of very tough calls and some players are incredibly unlucky to miss out on selection.’ One of those is Luke McGrath. The scrumhalf played a key role for Leinster this season, overcoming a serious knee injury to resume his duties at No9 for the Champions Cup final defeat of Racing 92. Instead Schmidt has selected the in-form John Cooney, one of the few players to impress during Ulster’s fractured season. Cooney, who swapped Connacht for Ulster last season in order to boost his chances at international level, will battle it out with former Sportsground team-mate Kieran Marmion to play back-up to Conor Murray. Some of the younger members of Schmidt’s squad will have an opportunity to gain experience of Test level rugby in the southern hemisphere. Dan Leavy, Jack Conan, James Ryan, Andrew Porter, Jacob Stockdale, Andrew Conway and Jordan Larmour all have less than 10 caps to their name, and for many, the in-house competition for places will be as demanding as the threat posed by Michael Cheika’s Wallabies. In all likelihood, the most realistic chance of seeing a reshuffled Ireland starting 15 is if Schmidt’s team come out on top in the opening two Tests, in Brisbane and Melbourne. Regardless of how results go, by that time Schmidt will have learnt much about his squad, who will then enjoy some hard-earned time off before the start of the 2018/19 season, when the ultimate goal of World Cup 2019 will really come into focus. Expect there to be little let-up over the course of a ferocious three weeks in Australia.