EIGHT days to go before Joe Schmidt publicly reveals his squad of 31 and as the scope for shock is so limited, we get excited at the slightest suggestion of a deviation from the norm. When it involves Ian Madigan, something of a cause celebre at various stages in his career, it’s worth investigating.
On the face of it, Madigan’s comment after last weekend’s victory over Scotland looked bog-standard: “I just want to get out on that field,” he said, “if I’m playing in the centre or at out-half or full-back or scrum-half or wherever it might be.”
Wherever, indeed. It was the mention of scrum-half that intrigued, especially when it emerged that Madigan had filled in at nine during Ireland’s recent training run in Galway, when actual scrum-halves received treatment for niggles. He looked sharp enough, too, apparently.
By Friday, rumour hardened into theory, when it emerged that Wallabies coach Michael Cheika had “rolled the dice” by including only two nines in his squad — Nick Phipps and Will Genia — departing from the conventional wisdom of picking three specialists at hooker and scrum-half for a six-week tournament.
Cheika can of course call upon Matt Giteau to play nine at a squeeze. Could Schmidt be following his example? Could Madigan be Ireland’s Giteau? In terms of playing experience, there is no comparison. Giteau has started six Tests at scrum-half, albeit eight seasons ago, and recently filled in there against the All Blacks when Phipps was sin-binned.
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Our Blackrock sources are unsure if Madigan ever played in that position. However, we know that he filled in there at training on the Argentina tour last year and that he has been working on specific scrum-half skills, so it’s a plan of action that has been considered.
The attraction of bringing just two nines is that it frees up space further out. While Schmidt has players who can fill in at outside centre, he could do with specialist cover for Robbie Henshaw — more likely to be Darren Cave, who shone in Cardiff, than Gordon D’Arcy, who struggled against the Scots.
He surely has doubts about Madigan’s ability to cover 12, especially as a defender. Schmidt has to think specifically about who he’d have to replace Henshaw against Mathieu Bastareaud in Cardiff. While Madigan is multi-skilled and therefore an attractive bench option, stopping Bastareaud looks a little too challenging for him.
But at nine? Isaac Boss’s scrappy performance against Scotland fuelled the possibility. Kieran Marmion helped his cause by scoring two tries for Connacht against Munster on Friday but his bread-and-butter scrum-half skills are just not international class yet.
Also, consider how useful a third scrum-half is likely to be. Conor Murray will almost certainly start in the games against Canada, Italy and France, with Eoin Reddan coming in for the second game against Romania. Boss played third fiddle in 2011 and spent a lot of time holding rucking pads.
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Schmidt could hardly be described as a risk-taker, however, and there is risk involved in bringing only two specialist nines. Consider the possibility of Reddan pulling a hamstring during the captain’s run on the eve of the France match. Tournament regulations dictate a 48-hour break before a replacement can be flown in. Then consider the situation should Murray get injured 10 minutes into the France match. If Schmidt is to roll the dice, then he needs to give Madigan a run at nine at some stage against Wales on Saturday, in a selection that will be close to the one that faces Canada in Cardiff, in other words, first choice.
Most of that team is easy enough to predict, especially given that Rob Kearney, Jonny Sexton, Peter O’Mahony, Henshaw and Murray have yet to feature. Greatest interest will focus on the flanks. Dave Kearney will surely get a start on the right, firming up the impression that he is ahead of Tommy Bowe in the rankings. But Luke Fitzgerald, Simon Zebo or Keith Earls on the left? All are looking good to make the final cut but the competition for that 11 jersey is intense. Andrew Trimble won’t be fit enough for consideration and with 34 minutes’ action over the course of 10 months, he is now, sadly, in a long-shot category
Marty Moore is expected to be fit and needs to deliver if he is to stay ahead of Nathan White for back-up tight-head. On the other side of the scrum, Cian Healy is now in the same territory as Trimble — though Schmidt may still be willing to take a risk on his fitness.
Wales have England in their second pool game so Warren Gatland is expected to pick a strong team. Given that they have England in their second pool game, there is pressure on them to deliver a performance. Witness the comments of Gareth Anscombe, who made his debut in Cardiff two weeks ago.
“The result was disappointing and it was frustrating, the amount of errors we made,” said Anscombe. “Our lack of rugby showed. We haven’t done much rugby. We had ran a lot, done some more running, and then ran a bit more. But it was no excuse for the way we played. We are better than that and we need to show it in the next game.”