“TIME ran out” for Andrew Trimble in his bid for a place in Ireland’s Rugby World Cup squad, coach Joe Schmidt said on Tuesday.
The Ulster winger – Ireland’s player of the year in 2014 – was the most notable omission when Schmidt announced his 31-man squad for the tournament, which begins in England later this month.
Trimble missed almost all of last season due to a foot injury sustained on Ulster duty in October, and only returned to action during Ireland’s first World Cup warm-up match against Wales last month. Another injury cut that appearance short and, despite scoring a try during Ulster’s pre-season clash with Edinburgh last Friday, Schmidt opted for Leinster’s Dave Kearney.
“That was the most discussed position,” said Schmidt of Trimble missing out.
“He’d played 34 minutes of a Test match and 80 minutes for Ulster but, in between that, he hurt his foot again, it interrupted his preparation and time ran out for him.”
Trimble’s Ulster team-mate Darren Cave was something of a surprise inclusion and is joined in the squad by fellow Ulster men Rory Best, Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, Paddy Jackson, Jared Payne and Tommy Bowe. Cave’s selection as a specialist centre cover comes in large part due to Schmidt’s decision to include Ian Madigan as scrum-half cover.
Schmidt has gambled on taking just two recognised scrum-halves to the World Cup, omitting Isaac Boss and Kieran Marmion. However, Madigan has spent the last year working behind the scenes to prepare to cover Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan. Fly-half Madigan has quietly beavered away at adding yet another string to his backline bow at Schmidt’s behest and has now started to run in at nine in training this week.
Confirming prop Cian Healy is finally fit after neck surgery in May but may not be risked against England this weekend, Schmidt insisted Ireland will only turn to Madigan at scrum-half in an emergency.
“I’d like to think it’s a calculated risk,” said Schmidt of selecting two scrum-halves in his squad.
“We’ve given it as much thought as we could. Isaac [Boss] did very well against Scotland. That physical aspect of his game is something we’ll miss. To a degree, that risk is managed by the 48-hour rule and the opportunity to get someone in within that time frame before a match if there is an injury. With the proximity of the tournament being hosted in England, that definitely eased the scenario.
“Ian has done a lot of individual training there, but it’s only in the last week he’s started to slot in and do a little bit at nine with the team. It’s been in the back of our minds for a while, but probably not in the forefront. I spoke to Ian about it last season, so it’s not suddenly something that’s sprung up. And then he did some work on it in the off-season.
“He’s been quietly preparing himself for that potentially to happen. But honestly, it probably wasn’t what we were going to do.”
Boss and Marmion remain on injury-cover standby, with Ireland launching their Pool D campaign against Canada in Cardiff on September 19. Schmidt’s men face England in their final warm-up at Twickenham on Saturday, with Leinster star Healy fit again after a frustrating absence.
“Cian’s cleared to play, he’s fit to play,” said Schmidt.
“He’s been in and out of sessions but not doing the whole session. He’s acquitted himself well on his first two days, so we thought we’d have a look at how that goes on Thursday.”
England, meanwhile, have selected Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph as their centre pairing for Saturday’s warm-up against Ireland.
It will be the first time Barritt and Joseph have started a match together, although they formed makeshift midfields midway through Tests against New Zealand and Australia, in what is the 13th different 12-13 axis of Stuart Lancaster’s reign.
George Ford lines-up at fly-half in a midfield trio that is likely to be England’s preferred choice for the World Cup opener against Fiji on September 18.
IRELAND SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP 2015
Props: T Furlong, C Healy, J McGrath, M Ross (all Leinster), N White (Connacht); Hookers: R Best (Ulster), S Cronin, R Strauss (both Leinster); Locks: I Henderson (Ulster), P O'Connell (Toulon, captain), D Ryan (Munster), D Toner (Leinster); Back-row: J Heaslip (Leinster), C Henry (Ulster), J Murphy, S O'Brien (both Leinster), P O'Mahony (Munster); Scrum-halves: C Murray (Munster), E Reddan (Leinster); Fly-halves: P Jackson (Ulster), I Madigan, J Sexton (both Leinster); Centres: D Cave (Ulster), K Earls (Munster), L Fitzgerald (Leinster), R Henshaw (Connacht), J Payne (Ulster); Back three: T Bowe (Ulster), D Kearney, R Kearney (both Leinster), S Zebo (Munster)
