STANDER AND AKI HAVE LOTS TO PROVE
DEVIN Toner is likely to have had a word of consolation for Rhys Ruddock this week – he knows exactly what his long-time Leinster colleague has been going through.
Last weekend, Toner spoke candidly about the hurt and disappointment he felt after being left out of the World Cup and, most pertinently, about how the reasons offered for his exclusion did not measure up.
Now, Ruddock finds himself out in the cold in similar, head-scratching terms and has every reason to be just as hurt and angry as Toner was last summer.
The theme surrounding Andy Farrell’s 35-man Six Nations squad was to move on from last year’s World Cup failure by rewarding form – something Ireland singularly failed to do as they unravelled in Japan.
The inclusion of a clutch of new faces, as well as in-form picks like Jack O’Donoghue, served that narrative but not in the case of Ruddock – or Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey – and it is hard to locate a valid reason for either omission. Over the last 12 months, Ruddock has arguably been playing the best rugby of his career – excelling in a flourishing Leinster outfit to the point of forcing his way into Ireland’s World Cup plans, only to be criminally underused.
Indeed, a regular stand-in for
Johnny Sexton as Leinster’s on-field leader, Ruddock has gone from being a viable candidate in the Ireland captaincy debate to being unwanted in any capacity and that is hard to stomach given some of the names picked ahead of him. There is no issue with the elevation of his Leinster backrow colleagues Max Deegan and Caelan Doris – progressive selections on the back of superb displays this season. Likewise O’Donoghue has been a standout performer for Munster during a troubled campaign, while Peter O’Mahony emerged from a difficult patch to become a beacon of resistance for Van Graan’s men before they were eventually seen off by Racing in Paris last weekend. Josh van der Flier is the specialist No.7 and is showing no sign of a World Cup hangover so no arguments there, which just leaves the remaining backrow pick, CJ Stander. The South African was a mainstay of Joe Schmidt’s pack since making his Ireland debut back in 2016 but he has not been producing anything near his best for a couple of years now. Stander struggled badly at the World Cup and, while his energy and industry always score well on the stats board, the effectiveness of his contributions have been debateable for some time.
He looked certain to lose his place to Jack Conan until the latter’s injury in Japan and the impression has been that Stander’s predictable style is playing into opposition’s hands. The argument that Ireland needed a specialist No.8 alongside Doris does not wash either, as Deegan has extensive experience in the position going back to winning Player of the Tournament at No.8 during Ireland’s run to the final of the 2016 World Under 20 Championship.
Ruddock may not be renowned for his incessant carrying like Stander, or lineout play like O’Mahony, but he brings tremendous power and gravitas to any side he plays for and carries the same degree of unfussy forcefulness that has characterised the great No.6s of the modern era – England’s Richard Hill, South Africa’s Schalk Burger and New Zealand’s Jerome Kaino.
Stander will need to get back to the level he was at four years ago if Ruddock’s omission is to be anyway justified.
McCloskey is another who must be smarting from having the door slammed in his face.
The giant centre has been Ulster’s most effective performer behind John Cooney and, having watched Ireland’s moribund midfield struggle so badly in Japan, would have justifiably believed he had played his way into contention.
Instead, the new Ireland coach has opted to stick with the same four centres (Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, Chris Farrell and Garry Ringrose) that flopped at the World Cup.
While there can be no quibbling with Ringrose’s place in the squad, the other three have been less than convincing.
While Andy Farrell would argue that Henshaw, Aki and Chris Farrell have the capacity to switch between 12 and 13 whereas McCloskey is a designated inside centre, that seems less relevant than their form going into the competition.
Aki, in particular, has a great deal to prove after a dire World Cup. A cult hero at Connacht, the Samoan seems to fall between two stools at international level – neither powerful enough to do serious damage as a crash-ball option or skilful enough to consistently put others into space.
By contrast, McCloskey guarantees his team forward momentum with his direct running and has a nice sleight of hand to bring teammates onto the ball.
As first squads go, Andy Farrell’s was not the worst but the decisions to omit Ruddock and McCloskey look like serious errors. It is up to Stander and Aki to prove otherwise.
“Ruddock is
playing best of his career”