Ireland: Schmidt 'strength in depth' plan on show against Scotland
- Published
Munster wing Andrew Conway was named to face Scotland
2019 Rugby World Cup: Ireland v Scotland |
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Venue: International Stadium, Yokohama Date: Sunday, 22 September Kick-off: 08:45 BST |
Coverage: Full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Scotland MW and BBC Radio Ulster; plus text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. Live on ITV |
Four years ago in Cardiff, Ireland's World Cup campaign imploded among a raft of high-profile absentees.
Sexton out, Payne out, O'Mahony out, O'Connell's career over, O'Brien suspended and Bowe injured in the first half of their quarter-final defeat.
It was too much for Ireland to cope with as Argentina surged into the last four in Cardiff at the 2015 World Cup.
It was probably on that very day that head coach Joe Schmidt began planning for Japan 2019.
Over the last four years, strength-in-depth has been the name of the game for Ireland.
The goal over this World Cup cycle has been to build a squad that can deal with any injury in any position, a 'next man up' mentality that means the momentum of the team is only ever minimally affected.
On Wednesday in Yokohama, Keith Earls was put in front of the media to confirm that he was available for selection having suffered an injury scare in the final warm-up match against Wales.
Earls, Ireland's all-time leading World Cup try scorer, is an ever-present in this Ireland team when fully fit.
However on Friday Schmidt announced that Earls, and 92-time capped Rob Kearney, were not in the squad despite declaring their fitness earlier this week.
Neither player has been dropped, and you would imagine both are likely to return to the side for Ireland's second game against Japan on 28 September.
Rob Kearney and Keith Earls have been given additional time to recover from injuries
But their absence despite being close to full fitness appears a deliberate statement from Schmidt that he is confident that his much-desired depth in personnel has been achieved on time.
"Keith Earls was the sharpest player in training on Wednesday," said Schmidt.
"He is good. Rob Kearney trained well as well (but) it was really just that we were getting tight for time.
"The best continuity that we had, we felt, was to have the guys who trained through the time that we've been here."
The inclusion of Jordan Larmour and Andrew Conway is not an all-out risk, both have proven Test match pedigree and have been around the squad for some time.
But entering into Ireland's biggest game for four years without two of Schmidt's most trusted lieutenants says a lot.
It says that Joe Schmidt feels his team is ready to overcome any obstacle that presents itself.