Ireland's head coach, Andy Farrell, has acknowledged that not all players in the warm-up squad will necessarily get game time before his final World Cup squad selection.
Farrell currently has a panel of 41 players at his disposal, which will be reduced to 31 before the team departs for France. Before that decision is made, Ireland will have two more games against England and Samoa this month.
Several players, including Ciarán Frawley, Calvin Nash, Tom Stewart, Cian Prendergast, Joe McCarthy, and Caolin Blade, are competing for a spot on the World Cup panel. . Other names under consideration include Ross Byrne, Gavin Coombes, Kieran Treadwell, and the uncapped Jamie Osborne.
Farrell emphasised that each player will have to earn their caps if they wish to make it to the tournament in France this coming September. Selection will be based on careful observation of training performances, ensuring the right balance in the team, and providing enough game time for deserving players.
"No, just take it [selection] as it is," he said about caps being given out for the sake of it."Watch training, judge everyone accordingly, getting the right balance, ensuring that people have enough game time and that people that deserve a chance will get a chance. "But it is about making sure that we prepare the 33 to be ready for the World Cup."
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The Ireland head coach also mentioned that he will seek input from other Ireland coaches, such as Paul O'Connell and Mike Catt, in a collaborative effort to make the best decisions for the team. They will discuss and argue different opinions to arrive at the right squad for the group.
"It's good that when we have difference of opinions because we argue it out and then see what’s right for the group. "The coaches have all got an opinion certainly in their areas and it’s up to them to put it on the table and for us to argue it out and make sure we pick the squad that is right for the group together. That type of stuff is daily, so I don’t think that type of stuff is a shock for us."
Regarding the potential sticking points in the selection process, Farrell believes that the coming weeks will provide more clarity. He expects feedback and discussions to continue as they work towards having the best 33 players on the plane to France.
"Biggest sticking points? I don’t think there is [one], I mean over the coming weeks things will be more clearer, making sure you feed back as that goes and we’ll get to a point where that we got the best 33 on the plane. "Obviously you’ve got an idea now, and what happens in the next three weeks will change that as well, I would have thought," Farrell added.
Ireland's next match is against England on August 19.
