Battle for places.

Connacht lock Ultan Dillane and Munster centre Rory Scannell became the first two players on the chopping block this week as Joe Schmidt begins the tough process of cutting his squad all the way down to 31.

Currently there are 43 players in Schmidt’s squad ahead of Ireland’s opening warm-up game against Italy, with the Ireland boss expected to whittle that down to around 38 in the coming weeks before naming his 31-man squad just before their final warm-up game against Wales on September 7.

As with pretty much every nation a good chunk of that squad is already locked in with frontline stars, but with a squad of just 31 players – those remaining spots need filled very carefully.

Here are the five positions we reckon are the most competitive right now.

Lock.
The competition here is ridiculous. James Ryan and Devin Toner are lock ins, we know that much. But after that you’ve got the likes of Iain Henderson, Tadhg Beirne and Jean Kleyn fighting for two spots. But if I was a betting man I’d say all five will end up in Japan at some stage, especially considering Henderson, Beirne, Kleyn and Toner have all had injury problems in the last 12 months.

Back-row.
Ireland are without the likes of Sean O’Brien and Dan Leavy here, but competition is still fierce. The big thing here is getting the balance right. Ideally you need guys that can cover more than one position, which is why someone like Jordi Murphy for me has a distinct advantage over say a Rhys Ruddock. Expect Stander, O’Mahony, van der Flier and Conan to travel plus one more.

Prop.
Once again you’ve got your nailed ons here in the shape of guys like Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong. You’ll need a back-up loosehead, with the battle between Dave Kilcoyne and Jack McGrath set to go down to the wire, and a back-up tighthead, plus one more. What’s likely here is John Ryan will travel as a tighthead, with Andrew Porter the fifth prop who can cover both. Either way there’s gonna be some disappointed props.

Centre.
Now here’s a position that’s just bursting with talent. Expect Schmidt to only bring three centres with the likes of Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Chris Farrell and even Will Addison fighting for a spot on the plane. The warm-up games will be key in terms of finalising his trio here.

Scrumhalf.
Four does not go into three and Ireland have four very good scrumhalves right now in Conor Murray, Kieran Marmion, John Cooney and Luke McGrath. Realistically Murray is the only name here guaranteed to travel. It’s a three-way battle then for the final two spots. The next few weeks will certainly be interesting.