No need for Andy Farrell to shuffle Irish deck as wider World Cup squad revealed

Andy Farrell’s well-oiled machine has not been built on surprises and the confirmation of his wider World Cup squad yesterday was no exception.

The 42 names that will be whittled down to a tournament-ready 33 over the summer months was along largely expected lines with the Grand Slam-winning head coach’s selections over the past 12 months proving instructive.

With a clean sweep of the Six Nations, not to mention a series win over New Zealand and a trio of Autumn wins including a victory over the World Cup champion Springboks, it was not as if Farrell had much prompting to shuffle the deck.

There are four uncapped players among the selection however, even if all four have been in the environment before.

Tom Stewart’s breakthrough season at Ulster has seen him included and hooker certainly seems to be the most keenly contested of the front-row positions.

The addition of two extra squad members for this World Cup allows for six specialised props and half-backs but there are just three looseheads and three tightheads among the 42.

There are, though, four hookers with Stewart vying for position alongside his provincial colleague Rob Herring as well as Leinster duo Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher.

Tom O’Toole’s marked progress during the Six Nations sees him included and the idea that Farrell has him alongside just Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham can be viewed as a vote of confidence.

Skipper Iain Henderson, despite the continued lack of a confirmed deal beyond the just completed season, is surely among those already inked in for France while his fellow second-row Kieran Treadwell will know there is a real battle ahead.

The lock, who spent four and a half years in the international wilderness between his third and fourth caps, came back into the fold during the 2022 Six Nations and featured in every game during the New Zealand tour.

A couple more caps in the Autumn and a place on the bench against England in the Grand Slam decider followed but the engine room is a brutally competitive area of the squad. James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne and Henderson are all proven operators while Ryan Baird and Joe McCarthy have bright futures.

The numbers game in that position will be especially interesting. So too in the midfield and back-three.

There has been a sense that the biggest squad Ireland have ever taken to the tournament would ease congestion somewhat but with those extra two spots seemingly sure to go to specialist positions, there is no backdoor into the panel for outside backs.

This time last year, through no fault of his own, Stuart McCloskey would have been considered long odds to be in this conversation. A stalwart for his province he seemed sure to go down as one of those players that simply didn’t get the international rewards that their provincial form seemed to merit.

But having been a late call out to New Zealand, and starting six Tests in a row for the first time between the Autumn and the start of the Six Nations, he has forced his way back into the reckoning.

With Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki and Jamie Osborne also getting the nod, as well as a number of back-three players who can be deployed in the midfield, there is a real bottleneck to get onto the plane.

If McCloskey has been a fixture of late, it is in contrast to the final Ulster inclusion. Jacob Stockdale, the hero of 2018, hasn’t played a Test since 2021 but finished the year strongly having come back from injury woes and it is clear Farrell has always rated him.

On the other side of the coin from an Ulster perspective, it was always likely that the side’s collective loss of form at such a key time of both their own and the wider rugby season was going to prove costly to some.

Having begun the season brightly, Dan McFarland’s side slumped to six losses in ten games between the end of the Autumn Internationals and the start of the Six Nations.

When the 37-man squad for what would turn out to be a fourth Grand Slam was named, there were only five Ulster players included.

While Robert Baloucoune was injured, that there was no place to be found for the likes of Nick Timoney, James Hume and Mike Lowry was ominous for their chances and so it has proved.

Timoney, who McFarland later said had been unlucky to miss out on form, did receive a late call into camp, it was only to train and only after he had seemingly been jumped in the queue by the uncapped Scott Penny.

Having been regulars in squads over the past two years, those four will certainly have been disappointed if not shocked to have been omitted.

With the likes of Joey Carbery and Jordan Larmour perhaps the biggest names to miss out, that emotion was far from restricted to the northern province.

But while those Ulster players that have missed out may well rue an earlier than anticipated end to their season that saw them kicking their heels during the last opportunity to make an impression, it is not as if Farrell has rewarded the hot hands.

Munster’s away day successes through the URC Play-Offs will be long remembered as the province delivered a first trophy in 11 years but the players that propelled them to the unexpected piece of silverware did not become the classic bolters.

Lock Jean Kleyn, who made his debut at this point of the cycle four years ago and controversially went to the Japan World Cup at the expense of Devin Toner, has not been included since Farrell assumed the hot-seat after that tournament but has found a rich vein of form in the red jersey.

Despite the inclusion of six second-rows in the panel, however, his name was nowhere to be seen yesterday.

John Hodnett, Shane Daly, Jeremy Loughman and even Stephen Archer may have similarly felt they had timed their own runs from the back of the field to perfection but it was not to be.

Farrell’s side have performed some truly admirable feats over the last 12 months, it was both understandable and expected that he would entrust the greatest challenge of them all to the same names and faces.