Brian O’Driscoll has an interesting solution to Ireland’s wing crisis
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Solution.
Ireland head into this year’s Guinness Six Nations championship with a bit of a conundrum when it comes to selecting their starting wingers.
They’ve been handed a boost this afternoon with James Lowe set to make his first start of the season for Leinster in the Champions Cup this weekend against Stade Francais – but that only solves one problem.
The ever-present Mack Hansen will miss the entire Six Nations after he went under the knife to correct a shoulder problem, leaving a large gap to fill on the other wing, with Keith Earls also unavailable having recently retired.
So who should step in? Jacob Stockdale has been in excellent form for Ulster this season, as have the likes of Jordan Larmour at Leinster and Calvin Nash as Munster. But what about someone who’s already a key member of the squad moving to the wing?
Brian O’Driscoll has an interesting solution…
“Maybe you play Ringrose on the wing,” O’Driscoll told Off The Ball.
“I think you play your best team. Right now, with a gun to my head, I would say you have to play Bundee [Aki]. You have to!
“He’s just been named Rugby Writers Player of the Year, nominated for World Player of the Year, you can’t not play that. So, he’s going to be playing 12.
“Robbie Henshaw is too good of a player to leave out. Ringrose is really the only one that properly plays on the wing, has wing experience. So, I think it’s a case of getting your best players playing.
“For me, right now, if you were selecting a team I think that would be the three quarter line that you would go with.”
What do you think?