Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LARMOUR L’AMORE
Schmidt loving Jordan impact but Italy match rather than France opener could be his best chance of an Irish debut
WHEN Brian O’driscoll scored his memorable hat-trick of tries on his Six Nations debut in Paris, he had already played for Ireland in the 1999 World Cup.
But as the only uncapped player in Joe Schmidt’s 36-strong squad for the first two fixtures of this year’s championship, it’s unlikely that hot prospect Jordan Larmour will get the chance to follow in BOD’S footsteps at the Stade de France on February 3.
The Leinster full-back is instead expected to adopt a watch-and-learn stance when the panel gathers at Carton House on Sunday.
Larmour was not on the summer tour to the US and Japan, nor had he done quite enough early in his debut season to merit a call-up for the November internationals.
And so the opener at the Stade de France next month will most likely come too soon for the talented 20-year-old.
After all, Robbie Henshaw’s brief for the 2013 Six Nations was to soak it all in with his debut not coming until the following summer.
But judging by recent performances for Leinster, Larmour’s Ireland bow cannot be far off. It’s easy to forget that the former underage rugby and hockey international has only started eight times for his province. Yet he looks like he will be a natural at the top level and, having been included here, could yet get his chance in the first home game in this year’s Six Nations – the February 10 clash with Italy.
When you have the likes of Johnny Sexton and Robbie Henshaw publicly stating their belief that their young provincial colleague is ready for the step up, an early Test debut does not look that far-fetched.
“It’s been great to witness some quality performances from provincial teams over the last seven weeks of European and derby matches, with a number of players performing well,” said Schmidt in an IRFU statement. “There were some very tight decisions but it’s great to see some competitive depth in a number of positions.”
Playing at full-back, Larmour shone the brightest of all in the period highlighted by Schmidt, scoring a try of the season contender against Munster before bagging a brace against Ulster.
But, at the other end of the scale, there’s no place for Racing-bound Simon Zebo who only last week had expressed the hope that he could still make the Six Nations squad.
And despite Donnacha Ryan’s excellent performance for Racing against Munster at the U Arena last Sunday, Schmidt is keeping to the policy of leaving out players who move abroad. That also means there is no place for Tadhg Beirne, the in-form Scarlets second row who is joining Munster in the summer. Connacht second row Quinn Roux is a surprise inclusion in the panel while Joey Carbery, who could return for Leinster in Montpellier on Saturday after breaking his arm against Fiji in the November series, is also there. With Garry Ringrose injured until at least the midway point in the championship, Westerners centre Bundee Aki is in line for his Six Nations debut at the Stade de France.
Jacob Stockdale, who was one of the biggest pluses over the November series, is also in with a chance of a first championship start. The squad is again skippered by Rory Best and there are recalls for Rory Scannell and Sean Cronin along with in-form Fergus Mcfadden.
Others unavailable through injury include Finlay Bealham, Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’brien, Rhys Ruddock, Tommy O’donnell, Luke Marshall, Jared Payne, Craig Gilroy and Niall Scannell.