the Indispensables

Ireland’s hopes for the 2019 World Cup are reliant on a select band of players

ALL rugby is national. In Irish terms at least, the fortunes of the provinces and their players are eventually felt most acutely in the Test context.

The Irish system has been the most successful in the northern hemisphere since the advent of professionalism because of the primacy of the national team within it. As a result, the ambitions of the provinces and the health of their players are influenced by national policy.

This is why the revivals experienced by Munster and Leinster have consequences that run far beyond Thomond Park and the RDS. It is why the IRFU will expect that the arrival of Jono Gibbes to work with Les Kiss in Ulster from next season will finally turn the province into a cohesive, consistent success.

And it’s why the efforts of Kieran Keane at Connacht next term will be so closely scrutinised, too.

In a system reliant on four teams (it is only in the past half-decade Connacht have been treated seriously enough to emerge as a viable, competitive professional entity) nothing can be wasted.

On the evidence of the Six Nations and the travails of Munster and Leinster last weekend, the Irish operation is sounder than it has been since the end of the last decade, but deficient in a number of areas.

The most pressing is second row, where Iain Henderson is the best asset. The decision not to tie Donnacha Ryan to a contract through to the 2019 World Cup seemed bad business when announced, and with each passing week it looks like a poorer call.

Scrum half is an area in need of attention, and a decision will have to be made soon on whether Joey Carbery is drilled for long-term service at full back, or prepared as Johnny Sexton’s eventual replacement.

He is good enough for either role, and looks a more inventive out-half than Paddy Jackson.

The compelling evidence unearthed by the matches last weekend, though, reiterated what we already know: that the provinces, and so therefore the national team, rely to a critical extent on a small group of players.

Ireland’s Indispensables will drive the provincial renaissance, and are the men Joe Schmidt will build his plans for the 2019 World Cup around.

Joey Carbery looks a more inventive out-half than Paddy Jackson