Ireland have followed Wales in choosing a largely reserve team for Saturday’s encounter at the Millennium Stadium, the first of four warm-up matches before their World Cup campaign which starts next month against Canada in Cardiff.
Jamie Heaslip will captain the side from No8, one of two players along with the prop Mike Ross who appeared in the final match of the Six Nations, in Scotland last March. Heaslip will be winning his 73rd cap, beating David Wallace’s record for an Irish back-rower.
The side are anything but inexperienced, with more than half the line-up involved in Ireland’s programme against tier-one nations last season, while Keith Earls and Donnacha Ryan make their first Test appearances for more than two years after overcoming a series of injuries.
The Ireland head coach, Joe Schmidt, will be using the match to assess his options as he considers his squad of 31 for the World Cup with 45 currently involved in training. He intends to cut the number by seven before next week’s game against Scotland. “There are some really tough decisions and I would like to have my mind made up now,” said Schmidt.
“We might have 38 or 39 players in a week’s time and we will then take it from there. I would not say the Wales game is one opportunity for anyone: we will take notice of how they have trained, but it’s a very narrow window and it will be the litmus test where we find out whether they can stay in the game and deliver what is required physically and mentally.”
It may be the one match for the likes of Earls, the centre Darren Cave and Ryan to push claims. “There are no second chances and when you have your opportunity you have to take it,” said the flanker Jordi Murphy. “It is a warm-up match but I am not going to call it a friendly. Wales will not hold back in front of a sell-out crowd and there will be a lot of mixing and matching. We all have to make the most of it.”
Wales intend to use Saturday’s match to tweak their gameplan, encouraging their players to offload more and minimise the number of penalties they concede. “We are constantly working on our offloading and counterattacking and want it to come to fruition against Ireland,” said the Wales attack coach, Rob Howley.
“I am not going to say it is a last chance for any player; it is an opportunity and it is exciting to have a new team to work with. Some of the young players have not played in front of 75,000 spectators at the Millennium Stadium and it will bring a new mental pressure for them. We have experienced half-backs in James Hook and Mike Phillips and we will be looking to them to run the game.”
Ireland team to face Wales F Jones (Munster); A Trimble (Ulster), K Earls (Munster), D Cave (Ulster), F McFadden (Leinster); P Jackson (Ulster), E Reddan; J McGrath, R Strauss, M Ross (all Leinster), D Ryan (Munster), I Henderson (Ulster), J Murphy, T O’Donnell, J Heaslip (capt, all Leinster). Replacements R Best (Ulster), D Kilcoyne (Munster), M Bent (Leinster), D Tuohy, C Henry (both Ulster), K Marmion (Connacht), I Madigan (Leinster), S Zebo (Munster).
