Cooney and Byrne catch the eye

WE have been banging on about John Cooney for a while, going back to the decision to refuse Ruan Pienaar a contract extension at Ulster. That move by IRFU elite performance director David Nucifora caused huge controversy with a spate of ‘What about the Pienaars?’ pieces in the national media. But it was always the right call for Irish rugby and has been backed up by Cooney’s performances. Yet, Ulster’s new scrumhalf is still not getting the attention his development deserves. Ireland have some back up to Conor Murray now, Kieran Marmion and Luke McGrath have come on impressively but Cooney is now the pick of the understudies. He should be part of the Six Nations debates as should Leinster’s Ross Byrne, another player who has been operating under the radar despite a period of consistent excellence. All the out-half talk in November revolved around Joey Carbery, following an eyecatching cameo against Fiji, but the highly talented Leinster man is now injured and his team-mate Byrne is looking like the real deal. Both Cooney (pictured) and Byrne bring the essential quality of control to the table, a starting point for international rugby in the half-back positions. Cooney is a French-style scrum-half, the goalkicking ‘petit generale’ in the mould of Dimitri Yachvili or Morgan Parra, especially important in Ulster who have lacked true authority at outhalf since David Humphreys retired a decade ago. Byrne may not have the same attacking instincts as Carbery but has a calm authority that bodes well for an Ireland future. The next few weeks will tell a lot — be prepared for a upsurge in the scrutiny of Byrne and Cooney, the coming men.