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IRELAND'S MISSING STARS - HOW WILL THEY COPE WITHOUT THEM

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When Ireland’s squad for the opening fixture of the Six Nations was announced, there were some notable absentees, which have all been down to injuries. Head coach Joe Schmidt has been forced to name a less experienced squad for the opening match against England, but it is no less a strong team.

Returning From Injury

Robbie Henshaw was initially a major doubt for the Six Nations opener when he picked up a hamstring injury against Argentina in November. He has however, been named in the squad for the England match and is likely to start following his recovery.

The return of Henshaw is good news for Ireland as they look to take the early advantage when they begin the defence of their Six Nations title against England at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 2nd February. England are likely to provide the biggest competition to Ireland, so a win against them in the opening round will increase the chances of them successfully defending their Six Nations crown.

On The Shelf

Iain Henderson is one of the biggest absentees from the opening match, and what makes the situation even more frustrating for the Irish fans is that he had only just recovered in time for the match before he picked up another injury to rule him out of it.

Fans will bemoan the finger injury he picked up during Ulster’s European Cup match against Leicester Tigers. The lock will be a big miss to Ireland and the injury should give England fans some hope of a victory when they visit the Aviva Stadium to kick off their bid to win the 2019 Six Nations.

Piling further misery onto the lock position for Ireland was the injury Tadhg Beirne suffered in Munster’s Champions Cup win over Exeter Chiefs. The injury means Beirne will miss the first two matches of the Six Nations and Joe Schmidt has called up uncapped Connacht lock Quinn Roux into the squad to help limit the damage caused by Beirne’s absence.

Back in November it was announced that scrum-half Kieran Marmion faced a battle to be fit for the opening match of the Six Nations and it seems that in this case, he has lost the battle. He has not been included in the squad to take on England thanks to an ankle injury and with a knee injury to Luke McGrath, Quinn Roux’s Connacht teammate Caolin Blade has the opportunity to play at scrum half should first-choice Conor Murray not make the match day team for some reason.

The Verdict

You won’t find many people calling this Ireland squad weak, even with all the injuries they’ve suffered. But their fans understand that while they are strong, they shouldn’t necessarily expect a grand slam this year. Although England look to be the main competitors for the Six Nations, this tournament is wide open, with Italy the only team unlikely to challenge for the trophy.

Away games to Scotland and Wales will be tricky for Ireland to navigate, but if they can prove themselves against England when they should be at their weakest, then Ireland are likely to storm to success this year as more and more players return from injury to give Joe Schmidt the kind of selection headache that coaches actually appreciate.

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