flying Simon Zebo

By Gary Watton
May 20 2013

The Ireland 28-man touring party has been announced for its imminent invasion of North America. Rory Best has justifiably been appointed as captain. This is not a post-Lions omission sympathy vote but an endorsement of Rory's level-headed leadership qualities. Perhaps it's a case of Britain's foolish loss is Ireland's gain.

There are six uncapped recruits to the touring party, of whom Robbie Henshaw, Tommy O'Donnell, and Stuart Olding are perhaps the selections which catch the eye.

With the cream of Leinster (and Munster) rugby joining forces with their British counterparts in the southern hemisphere, it is justly deserved that Ulster (for the first time in a long time) should have the lion's share (if you can forgive the pun) of the latest Ireland squad. What is particularly remarkable, and maybe merits an article in its own right is that Ulster appears to have succeeded Leinster as the new assembly line for Irish backs. Where we once relied upon the latter to furnish us with D'Arcy, Dempsey, Fitzgerald, Hickie, Horgan, Kearney, McFadden, and O'Driscoll, now the northern province is supplying the likes of Bowe, Cave, Gilroy, Marshall, Olding, and Trimble. Come on Munster. Please keep up!

The provincial breakdown is as follows: Connacht - three players, Leinster - eight players, Munster - six players, and Ulster - eleven players.

The Ireland squad for the North America Tour is:

Rory Best (Ulster), Isaac Boss (Leinster), Darren Cave (Ulster), Tom Court (Ulster), Declan Fitzpatrick (Ulster), Jamie Hagan (Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Chris Henry (Ulster), Robbie Henshaw (Connacht), Paddy Jackson (Ulster), Felix Jones (Munster), David Kilcoyne (Munster), Ian Madigan (Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Connacht), Paul Marshall (Ulster), Mike McCarthy (Connacht), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Kevin McLaughlin (Leinster), Tommy O'Donnell (Munster), Stuart Olding (Ulster), Peter O'Mahony (Munster), Mike Ross (Leinster), Mike Sherry (Munster), Richardt Strauss (Leinster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Dan Tuohy (Ulster), Simon Zebo (Munster).

The Emerging Ireland squad for the Tbilisi Cup is:

Michael Allen (Ulster), Michael Bent (Leinster), Andrew Conway (Leinster), John Cooney (Leinster), Sean Cronin (Leinster), David Foley (Munster), Eoin Griffin (Connacht), Cathal Marsh (unattached), Michael Heaney (Ulster), Rob Herring (Ulster), Dave Kearney (Leinster), Ian Keatley (Munster), Ricky Lutton (Ulster), Brendan Macken (Leinster), Jack McGrath (Leinster), Eoin McKeon (Connacht), Martin Moore (Leicester), Jordi Murphy (Leinster), Ian Nagle (Munster), Robbie Diack (Ulster), Tiernan O'Halloran (Connacht), Rhys Ruddock (Leinster), Dominic Ryan (Leinster), John Ryan (Munster), Lewis Stevenson (Ulster).

Based on the selected squad, my Ireland XV for the first test on June the 8th against the USA would be as follows:

15 Henshaw (Connacht) or Jones

14 McFadden (Leinster)

13 Olding (Ulster)

12 Trimble (Ulster)

11 Zebo (Munster)

10 Jackson (Ulster)

9 Boss (Leinster)

8 Henderson (Ulster)

7 Henry (Ulster)

6 O'Mahony (Munster)

5 Toner (Leinster) or perhaps Tuohy

4 McCarthy (Connacht)

3 Fitzpatrick (Ulster)

2 Best (Ulster)

1 Kilcoyne (Munster)