These ‘A’ Internationals could be great if they selected the real up and coming stars who were just chomping at the bit to make their breakthrough into the full international squad. The form players of the moment who need to be tested at a higher level.
Unfortunately the International bodies seem to treat them as something different, and while, going down the list on an individual basis, there is probably a good reason for each selection (well apart form Tony Buckley), I can’t help but feel disappointed with Ireland line up for this game.
Ireland’s attitude is most noticeable with the selection of Ulster’s only starting players Wallace and Best. Wallace for a wee run out at No 10 for goodness knows what reason and Best for a bit of match practice.
Horan is there for the same reason as Best and it must be very dispiriting to the other provincial front row players that these two are being rushed back with such haste, in-fact apart from a training run it’s hard to justify any of the front row selections.
Duffy, Dowling, Stringer, O’Driscoll and Jennings must all be there to add a bit of experience as not one is going to feature in 2011 so that only really leaves us with Carr, McFadden, Matthews, Toner, O’Brien and Muldoon to have a look at.
Maybe things will change for the game next Friday night at Ravenhill and maybe the likes of Tuohy and O’Donoghue, Fitzpatrick, Brady, Kyriacou, Faloon, Pollock, Henry and Whitten will get a chance to display their talents.
I’m not holding my breath!
| Saxons | v | Ireland A |
| Alex Goode (Saracens) | 15 | Gavin Duffy (Connacht) |
| David Strettle (Harlequins) | 14 | Fionn Carr (Connacht) |
| Dominic Waldouck (Wasps) | 13 | Fergus McFadden (Leinster) |
| Brad Barritt (Saracens) | 12 | Keith Matthews (Connacht) |
| Noah Cato (Saracens) | 11 | Ian Dowling (Munster) |
| Shane Geraghty (Northampton) | 10 | Paddy Wallace (Ulster) |
| Ben Youngs (Leicester) | 9 | Peter Stringer (Munster) |
| Nick Wood (Gloucester) | 1 | Marcus Horan (Munster) |
| David Paice (London Irish) | 2 | Rory Best (Ulster) |
| Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester) | 3 | Tony Buckley (Munster) |
| Dave Attwood (Gloucester) | 4 | Mick O’Driscoll (Munster) (C) |
| (C) George Skivington (Wasps) | 5 | Devin Toner (Leinster) |
| Tom Wood (Worcester Warriors) | 6 | Shane Jennings (Leinster) |
| Andy Saull (Saracens) | 7 | Sean O’Brien (Leinster) |
| Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints) | 8 | John Muldoon (Connacht) |
| Tom Mercey (Saracens) | 16 | John Fogarty (Leinster) |
| Rob Webber (Wasps) | 17 | Mike Ross (Leinster) |
| Geoff Parling (Leicester) | 18 | Ryan Caldwell (Ulster) |
| Luke Narraway (Gloucester) | 19 | Niall Ronan (Munster) |
| Micky Young (Newcastle) | 20 | Isaac Boss (Ulster) |
| Jon Clarke (Northampton) | 21 | Ian Humphries (Ulster) |
| Miles Benjamin (Worcester) | 22 | Darren Cave (Ulster) |
Corrections, comments or questions?