Ireland coach Joe Schmidt says Saturday’s Rugby World Cup warm-up game with Scotland could be the final audition for fringe players to prove themselves worthy of his World Cup squad.
Schmidt has made 14 changes to the side that beat Wales in Cardiff last week, with Leinster’s Sean O’Brien captaining the new-look Ireland side that is still without Paul O’Connell, Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray.
The bulk of the Ireland side that won this season’s Six Nations Championship are likely to return for the visit of Wales in two weeks’ time as the Irish continue their preparations for the World Cup.
Back-row Jack Conan is set to win his first senior cap alongside Chris Henry, who is hoping to make a dramatic late push for the World Cup finals following a year in which a heart defect almost ended his career.
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Behind the scrum, Ian Madigan is given a chance in his favoured No10 shirt, while the experienced Gordon D’Arcy starts in midfield alongside Jared Payne.
The most eye-catching move, however, has seen Schmidt’s decision to give Munster’s Simon Zebo a start at full-back. Schmidt said: “While some of them may be written up as certainties and automatic choices they always have a bit of nervousness when the team is announced and that is a good thing.”
Scotland coach Vern Cotter, who was awarded a one-year extension this week, will be plotting Schmidt’s downfall, and he’s someone the Ireland boss admires a lot, having worked under his fellow New Zealander in France before moving to Ireland.
“I have massive respect for Vern,” he said. “I learnt a lot off him having coached together for five years.”
