Very disappointing news for Cian Healy, but a great opportunity for Denis Buckley. He can't help but shine in comparison against Michael Bent and Dave "Killer" Kilcoyne.

swift4prez wrote: Major IRFU announcement about Joe Schmidt due shortly

Joe has been fired for not having Denis Buckley as first choice loosehead?

Apparently Joe saved his neck (for now) by adding Buckley to the WC training squad on the quiet:
www.the42.ie/cian-healy-irfu-world-cup-f...utm_source=shortlink

Major IRFU announcement about Joe Schmidt due shortly

Joe has been fired for not having Denis Buckley as first choice loosehead?

sea_point wrote:
Which in fairness he has already done and convincingly. And that's me who said three seasons ago that Eric/Dan should transition Buckley into a Hooker given his size or lack thereof..

And on top of that he offer a lot more then the others in the tackle area, mobility, passing etc, etc...

Well.... he certainly had a fantastic game against Afoa at the end of the season but when I said champions cup I did mean the top European competition, which I hasn't been exposed to for a while. Don't forget he barely played last season for a variety of reasons. Its not the same as Henshaw and Marmion who have proven themselves over several seasons now.

Again I would have liked to see him push into the squad but if you take it that Healy, McGrath, Ross and Moore are nailed on, and Furlong is there for experience, then it is between Bent and Kilcoyne for a final spot. He might have picked White or Cronin but has said some players missed out due to prolonged absence.

I don't think Joe will bother with six props and he may even try playing Kilcoyne at tighthead in warm up games to see if that is an option. That might sound crazy but he tried the same thing with James Cronin in Argentina and has moved McGrath there in the past so its not completely out of the blue.

Remember that whoever this fifth prop is will only play in the event of injury/as rotation in the minnows game. I don't think he will bring six props because I think he will want more depth elsewhere, and I don't think he needs Buckley's work on the ground with Best, SOB, POM, POC and Heaslip there, plus Henshaw and four other centres playing in the backs. Ireland's ground game is exemplary, so he may plump for Kilcoyne for ballast and carrying, which brings me back to my original point about picking based on size.

sea_point wrote: Which in fairness he has already done and convincingly. And that's me who said three seasons ago that Eric/Dan should transition Buckley into a Hooker given his size or lack thereof..

And on top of that he offer a lot more then the others in the tackle area, mobility, passing etc, etc...

That's about the size of it. Though picking Kilcoyne over Buckley is evidently a mistake - he's inferior to Bucks in every department - you could at least make half an argument for it based on experience/caps.

But choosing Michael Bent(lase) - a failed tighthead reinvented as a decent journeyman loosehead who won't let you down at provincial level during the international windows - over him is a proper head scratcher.

phatguerilla wrote: Would've liked to have seen Buckley get in but I kind of predicted this. The four obvious picks are in there then bent kilcoyne and furlong. The latter two probably for the ecperience and then bent to provide cover.

IMO one of the main reasons Buckley won't get picked by joe in the medium term is that when he has a choice between two players of similar level he will pick the larger player. Thus Payne for cave, fitz for Zebo, etc. Buckley will have to be able to prove himself consistently against international props in the champions cup before joe would trust him for Ireland IMO.

Which in fairness he has already done and convincingly. And that's me who said three seasons ago that Eric/Dan should transition Buckley into a Hooker given his size or lack thereof..

And on top of that he offer a lot more then the others in the tackle area, mobility, passing etc, etc...

Would've liked to have seen Buckley get in but I kind of predicted this. The four obvious picks are in there then bent kilcoyne and furlong. The latter two probably for the ecperience and then bent to provide cover.

IMO one of the main reasons Buckley won't get picked by joe in the medium term is that when he has a choice between two players of similar level he will pick the larger player. Thus Payne for cave, fitz for Zebo, etc. Buckley will have to be able to prove himself consistently against international props in the champions cup before joe would trust him for Ireland IMO.

Would have liked Denis and Healy to be involved in the extended squad
While I wouldn't expect either to make the cut for RWC, picking Kilcoyne over Buckley is rather puzzling.

Gilroy and Healy are the two form wingers in Ireland, unfortunately they both very similar. I'd have Healy over Dave Kearney but I understand why Joe went with DK

Squad of 45 has been named with only Henshaw and Marmion being named from Connacht. We're disappointingly underrepresented in my view with Denis Buckley being left out at the expense of "Killer" Kilcoyne, a player who isn't even provincial standard, not mean international standard.