Andy Farrell is set to make several changes to the Irish starting line-up for their second 2024 Guinness Six Nations match against Italy at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 3pm). The team and match-day 23 are scheduled to be announced at lunchtime on Friday.
Seemingly injuries are also a factor, and with Farrell not of a mind to start players who are nursing any knocks from the record-breaking 38-17 win over France in Marseille last Friday night, there could be half a dozen changes or so to the starting XV.
The likes of James Ryan, Jack Conan and Stuart McCloskey could be in line for a promotion, but all the indications are that the trio of younger players who made their first starts in the Six Nations in the Stade Vélodrome will be retained, namely Joe McCarthy, Jack Crowley and Calvin Nash.
The latter is likely to be retained as part of an unchanged back three alongside Hugo Keenan and James Lowe while in midfield it seems unlikely that Garry Ringrose will be risked. Instead, he will be given an additional two weeks to recover from the shoulder injury he sustained in Leinster’s win in Leicester three weeks ago and which ruled him out of last week’s opener.
McCloskey’s recall may in part be due to a knock of some kind for Bundee Aki, who had been nursing a hamstring issue after the World Cup which has restricted his game time with Connacht. Robbie Henshaw has, touch wood, been enjoying a welcome run of injury-free games and would be a more natural fit at outside centre alongside McCloskey.
There appears to be a possible issue of some kind with Jamison Gibson-Park as well, in which case Conor Murray or Craig Casey would step in to play alongside Crowley, their fellow Munsterman at halfback who is now the man in possession at outhalf and can only benefit from further time in the jersey.
Similarly, word is that Tadhg Furlong might not be entirely niggle-free either, which may in part explain why Munster’s recent recruit from the Crusaders, Oli Jager, has been formally added to the squad this week after being termed as a training addition for the pre-Championship camp in Portugal.
But if Furlong isn’t starting, one would imagine Finlay Bealham merits another outing at tighthead, having started the first three games of last season’s Grand Slam. The 32-year-old Connacht prop has also been Furlong’s established understudy for three seasons now.
Whether or not there are even the slightest injury concerns regarding Tadhg Beirne, having played every minute of the World Cup and eight subsequent 80-minute shifts for Munster as captain before last Friday’s tour de force, he is possibly due a respite anyway. James Ryan must be straining at the leash as well.
With another fortnight before the home game against Wales, discretion may prove the better part of valour for the captain too. Peter O’Mahony’s minutes need to be managed, all the more so with Ryan Baird benefiting from an overdue run of games in the same position.
Jack Conan made a big impact off the bench in the Stade Vélodrome and he sounded like a possible starter after being put up in front of the media this week. It could therefore be that against the Azzurri, Ireland will this Sunday start with the same backrow which finished last week, not least as Caelan Doris at openside now seems like the established Plan B to Josh van der Flier.
Rightly or not, last weekend’s first ever employment of a 6-2 split on the bench felt like a one-off, horses for courses configuration in part to counter the established make-up of the French replacements.
There would certainly be a case for accommodating Harry Byrne, with a view to him being afforded more game time and a chance to impress in providing a backup at outhalf, where the cupboard is a little thin, albeit his brother Ross is now back training with Leinster.
Jordan Larmour, who won the last of his 30 caps against Japan in July 2021, was perhaps one of the unluckier players to miss out on the opener against France, and he does offer options off the bench at 23.
Ireland v Italy (possible): Keenan; Nash, Henshaw, McCloskey, Lowe; Crowley, Murray; Porter, Sheehan, Bealham, McCarthy, Ryan, Baird, Doris (capt), Conan. Replacements: Kelleher, Healy/Loughman, O’Toole, Henderson/Beirne, van der Flier, Casey/Gibson-Park, H Byrne, Larmour.
