Ireland tour will not be an anti-climax
Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan insists his side’s two-match tour of Argentina will not be an anti-climax, despite leaving a clutch of first-choice players at home.
The tourists face the Pumas on Saturday and while O’Sullivan concedes that the majority of Ireland’s big names have not made the trip, the side captained by Ulster’s Simon Best will be playing for high stakes.
Chances are running out for players to make an impression on the coach ahead of the World Cup and by blooding some of the less-experienced members, O’Sullivan is hoping to ink some mores names onto his confirmed list.
While much of the first-choice 15 are already in place, O’Sullivan admits that outside that elite there are plenty of players who have a chance of being on the plane.
“Everybody has to play well now in these last two games because there will be no future opportunity, as there is only one more camp before we’re naming the World Cup squad,” he said.
“For sure, we have the 50% (of the squad in mind), which is the players we left home. But there are 30 players more here.
“It will be an opportunity for both sides, for the players to be in the World Cup squad, so I think both teams will play well on Saturday.
“We’ll have to position well for set-pieces and keep our discipline.”
Five players – Leo Cullen, Peter Bracken, Shane Jennings, Geordan Murphy and Eoin Reddan have yet to land in Buenos Aires – after being involved in the Heineken Cup final between Leicester and Wasps, a match the London side won in resounding fashion.
They will link up with the squad on Tuesday, after which point O’Sullivan will decide which of his players will get the chance to start against the South Americans, with youth likely to feature heavily.
The Ireland coach is uncomfortable about playing Argentina, who are in the same World Cup group as his side, so close to the tournament but believes his selection policy negates any problems.
“It probably would be better we didn’t have to play each other,” he said.
“I think the best way we have to deal with this is selecting some of the younger players to see if they are ready to fight in the World Cup squad.”
