Leinster prop Thomas Clarkson could be in line for his Ireland international debut against Argentina next Friday night. Neither Tadhg Furlong or Tom O’Toole have been ruled out of the game but both must be considered doubtful, and although the 24-year-old Clarkson was initially named as one of five uncapped “training panellists”, there is no other tighthead in the squad.
Clarkson was also involved in the captain’s run at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday before Friday night’s 23-13 loss against New Zealand, during which O’Toole was helped off within two minutes of coming on as a replacement for Finlay Bealham, who had to return and play until the end of the game.
Bealham had started in place of the injured Furlong, who is unlikely to be risked after apparently aggravating the hamstring injury he had initially suffered on Leinster duty during Ireland’s training camp in Portugal.
“You’d always hope when you’ve got a world-class tighthead that’s not fit, but we’ll see how that goes,” said Andy Farrell regarding the possibility of Furlong recovering to face Argentina, who continued their eye-catching progress under Felipe Contepomi with a 50-18 win over Italy in Udine on Saturday.
“You’ve got to see how people pull up,” added Farrell. “You could see that Finlay had given his all, hadn’t he? He was pretty spent at times. There’s a few people like that so we’ll see how they pull up on Sunday.”
Although O’Toole visibly staggered before being assisted off, he does not have to be stood down for a mandatory 12 days if he has no prior history of concussion.
Clarkson, who began playing at Wicklow RFC and came through Blackrock College, was an ever-present in Ireland’s 2019 under-20 Grand Slam success and has accumulated 47 caps for Leinster.
Allowing for this issue, it is not Farrell’s style to throw the baby out with the bathwater, not least in the wake of Ireland’s first home defeat in 3½ years.
Ciarán Frawley could make his first Test start for Ireland against Argentina. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
Farrell retained an unchanged team after last season’s Six Nations defeat in Twickenham as Ireland sealed back-to-back titles a week later against Scotland, albeit the head coach rejigged things when demoting Bundee Aki and Peter O’Mahony for the second Test victory in Durban last July.
That victory was secured by two drop goals from Ciarán Frawley, albeit the Skerries man suffered an altogether contrasting experience last Friday night. Farrell opted to bring him on in the 58th minute for Jack Crowley despite Ireland leading at the time “just to freshen it up, give Frawls a chance”, said the Irish coach afterwards. “Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”
But Farrell did intimate that he has a degree of rotation in mind over the month, with Argentina to be followed by Fiji, who had a historic 24-19 win over Wales in Cardiff on Sunday, as well as a fourth match against Joe Schmidt’s Australia, who have been buoyed by Saturday’s dramatic 42-37 win over England.
“It’s a tough old month, four games back to back on the trot,” said Farrell. “So, we’ll see what the energy levels are like.”
Frawley will come under consideration for his first Test start at outhalf after a contest that called into question Ireland’s game management as they adjust to life after the generational player that was Johnny Sexton.
“Game-management is not just down to them, it’s down to others helping with the calls and seeing the space,” said Farrell of his inexperienced outhalves. “But, having said that, if you are playing you would expect yourself to hold on to the ball for more than a couple of phases, which we didn’t do at times.”
Robbie Henshaw will come under consideration, as will Jamie Osborne, who won his third cap as a 70th-minute replacement for Garry Ringrose last Friday after performing admirably when starting both Tests in South Africa at fullback.
Farrell might also look at Ireland’s starting back five in the pack and replacements in that sector, with a plethora of younger players such as Ryan Baird, Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney and Cian Prendergast itching to inject some fresh energy.
Ireland’s defeat has removed them from the top of the world rankings to be published at noon on Monday, as New Zealand overtook them. What’s more, the Springboks’ 32-15 win over Scotland at Murrayfield saw them reclaim the number one spot, meaning Ireland will drop to third.
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2024-11-11 06:34:17
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