McGrath can catch Farrell’s attention
WHEN Joe Schmidt was finalising his 31-man squad for Ireland’s World Cup mission in Japan, he left just two slots for scrum-halves. The former Ireland boss wanted to bring Johnny Sexton, Joey Carbery and Jack Carty to the tournament, meaning something had to give, and there would be just two plane seats on the flight to Tokyo reserved for the No9s.
In the end, Schmidt opted to bring Conor Murray — a certainty to travel and first-choice throughout his reign — with Luke McGrath providing back-up. Carbery would be tasked with filling in as an emergency scrum-half, if the opportunity arose.
It was a tough blow for Kieran Marmion, who had started the historic victory against the All Blacks the previous year, while John Cooney was told to pack his bags and head back to Belfast long before the World Cup warmups had even begun. Caolin Blade was still a bit raw for Test level while Craig Casey was yet to emerge down in Munster.
The pecking order was well established and would remain that way throughout the national team’s ill-fated five weeks at that tournament.
All that changed in July of last year, however. Jamison GibsonPark qualified on residency and has since cut a swathe through the established order at Leinster and Ireland.
The New Zealand-born scrumhalf first pulled ahead of McGrath in provincial colours before Murray felt the heat from Gibson-Park throughout the autumn series, with the Kiwi starting ahead of the Munster scrum-half against England at Twickenham last November. McGrath didn’t even feature in any of Farrell’s training squads across October and November.
And the Ireland head coach was obviously impressed with GibsonPark’s contributions during training. The 28-year-old was playing with confidence and had the hightempo passing game which suited an operation which was seeking to expand its attacking horizons.
‘He can play very quickly but, at the same time, without contradicting myself, he can play very calmly as well,’ Farrell noted last November.
‘His speed of ball is great, his skillset across the board with his hands and his kicking, his vision and his decision-making is pretty good. He’s a calming influence as well, even though he’s playing quickly he’s able to see many pictures and make good decisions along the way.’
Farrell is clearly a fan and liked the contrast in styles between Murray and Gibson-Park. Which makes tonight’s scrum-half battle at the more intriguing. Farrell and his coaching team will be watching events in Thomond Park closely as they finalise their squad ahead of the Six Nations.
Murray — as ever — is the main man at Munster while McGrath has fought back and reclaimed his starting spot at Leinster in recent times. McGrath, who won the last of his 19 caps as a replacement in that quarter-final hammering at the hands of the All Blacks at the World Cup in 2019, has been excellent for his province recently.
A big performance in Limerick this evening and an international recall surely beckons?
Then again, if Gibson-Park comes off the bench and injects his customary tempo into the game and helps the visitors turn the tide should things get a bit dicey, then he will confirm Farrell’s belief that he made for an impact role of the bench in the forthcoming championship.
It’s a role that McGrath filled many times under Schmidt’s watch.
Time and again, he was entrusted to close out games after Murray had run the show for 60 minutes or so. McGrath offered a calm. assured presence. His tactical brilliance in the final quarter of that win against New Zealand in 2019 remains fresh in the memory.
Whether that’s enough to get him back in the Ireland reckoning remains to be seen although his running threat around the fringes of the ruck has been notable in recent games.
The 27-year-old remains a key figure in Leo Cullen’s set-up. McGrath has been part of the province’s leadership team for a long time and his voice carries a lot of weight in team meetings.
He is arguably the best scrum-half which Leinster have produced in the professional era for good measure. You won’t find too many locals in the half-back hall of fame, which includes Chris Whitaker, Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss.
Tonight, he has a chance to prove it in an interprovincial derby which could reach Testlevel intensity. It’s time for McGrath to reclaim his seat.
‘Big showing tonight and international recall beckons’