Irish team selection

After the disaster of Saturday night the dust is beginning to settle on what was an embarrassing episode for the 6 nations and the French rugby union. The match has been re fixed for Sunday the 3rd of March. I see this as a blessing in disguise as it gives Ireland a chance to build a little momentum for the French game. I don't buy the players will be fatigued, they played 5 games on the bounce in New Zealand. It also presents the ever so conservative Declan Kidney a chance to experiment. If I was to select an Irish team there would be a few personnel and positional changes.

15) Rob Kearney
14) Andrew Trimble
13) Tommy Bowe
12) Fergus McFadden
11) Keith Earls
10) Johnny Sexton
9) Connor Murray
8) Sean O Brien
7) Peter O Mahony
6) Stephen Ferris
5) Paul O Connell
4) Donnacha Ryan
3) Mike Ross
2) Sean Cronin
1) Cian Healy

I would not say I am dropping Darcy, Heaslip, O Callaghan and Best. I just think Cronin, Ryan and O Mahony would allow us to play a more expansive game. At the moment the Irish team are struggling at ruck time and struggling to make linebreaks. On current form are lineout is as good as any in the world so I would have no worries about Cronin. He has done well in an unsettled Leinster pack.Cronin is as quick as any Irish winger and nearly makes a line break in every match he plays, Irelands problem for years is making linebreaks. The majority of are tries are coming from set pieces,this makes the Irish backline very easy to defend, especially without a James Downey or Jamie Roberts type centre. O Mahony and Ryan have been fantastic for Munster this season. O Mahony is probably are best option as an out and out 7. He is also a very secure lineout jumper at the tail. I think if Ireland are to play the game the fans grave we need to take the calculated gamble. Ryan is cut from the Quinlann/ Leamy cloth and adds an extra bite to any pack he plays with. He has also played a lot of rugby at 6, this gives him the edge at ruck time over O Callaghan in my opinion. Ireland have are committing too many men at ruck time just to retain are own ball, I believe O Mahony and Ryan could give us the edge at rucktime, speed up the ball and in turn reduce the numbers we need to commit. If Sexton and Murray get quick ball they could be devasting, there is not many halfback pairings in the world who are both capable of making breaks. Tommy Bowe and Sean O Brien are the ball main carriers at the moment. In an ideal world Bowe and O Brien would be coming onto offloads from Cronin, Sexton and Murray who are all capable of breaking the line consistently. Behind the definsive line O Brien and Bowe are virtually unstoppable.

Do I think Deccie will make 4 changes from the Welsh game?no but I would give Ryan and O Mahony an outside chance of starting. At the moment Ireland are trying to play the right game plan with the wrong team.