Preview: Ireland's Summer Tour To Australia
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Many Irish rugby fans will be delighted with Joe Schmidt's squad selection for the summer tour, as it looks like he picked on form this time, rather than the tried and trusted selections he has made in the past. He described the ordeal as “the most difficult selection process yet” for the coaching staff.
Two uncapped players make the squad in Tadhg Beirne and Ross Byrne. We purposed earlier in the week that they would be great additions to Ireland and that this tour would be the perfect time to give them some experience, in advance of next year’s World Cup.
The prospect of Beirne linking up in the 2nd row with James Ryan or Iain Henderson is something that will have Aussie fans quaking in their boots. John Cooney has also been added, after a phenomenal season with Ulster. He may be given more game time than he thinks, given the long season Conor Murray has had, on the back of a Lions tour where he played all three Tests against New Zealand.
However, there were no places for Sam Arnold and Luke McGrath however. Schmidt chose to opt for Marmion over the Leinster-man again, while offering Cooney that 3rd scrum-half spot.
The snubbing of Arnold is a perplexing one, as it looked like he was in prime position to make his international debut against Australia. Schmidt seems unfazed by minor injuries to Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw, as he has only selected 3 centres in the squad. Should one not be able to make it, or suffer an injury on tour, we may well see Keith Earls or Jordan Larmour at outside centre.
Much of the rest of the squad picked itself, with the main talking points being the reselection of Ulster-bound Jordi Murphy and Rob Herring in the reserve hooker slot. The starting XV that takes the field for that first test in Melbourne will be anyone’s guess.
With Murray, Sexton and Furlong all playing through last summer, places are up for grabs between Marmion and Cooney, Carbery and Byrne, and Porter and Ryan. It would also be wonderful to see a back-three for the future play in one of the tests, with Stockdale and Larmour on the wings and Conway at fullback.
Ireland will fancy their chances of winning the series down-under, despite not having tasted victory there since 1979. Michael Cheika will name his Wallaby squad next Wednesday but has already started the mind-games, labelling his side as underdogs but also pointing to the contrasting, structured style of play of Schmidt’s side as a potential weakness against the wide-attacking play of the Wallabies.
The last time Ireland faced Australia was in the Aviva Stadium in 2016. Ireland ran out winners there in a 27-24 thriller. The last trip to Oz for the men in green ended in disappointment, with Australia defeating them 22-15 in Brisbane, despite 5 penalties from the boot of Johnny Sexton.
The last meeting in Melbourne was also lost by Ireland, with 41,700 people witnessing an 18-12 Australian victory. However, with 3 tests this summer against the Wallabies, the Irish will fancy their chances of winning at least once and maybe more on foreign soil.
The test series will be played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on June 9, Melbourne's AAMI Park on June 16, and Sydney's Allianz Stadium in June 23. Catch all the coverage on Ultimate Rugby.
