November.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt yesterday named an extended 42-man squad for their upcoming November international fixtures against Italy, Argentina, New Zealand and USA.

In naming such a big squad, it probably suggests Schmidt will be making plenty of changes after each game, with the Ireland boss likely to give every player in the squad a good chunk of game time throughout the month.

We reckon he’ll give a number of fringe players a chance against Italy and USA and load up against Argentina and New Zealand, with the clash with the All Blacks obviously going to feature what Schmidt thinks is his strongest side.

First up is Italy in Chicago. Here we hoping to see Schmidt throw out some new caps and give some fringe players a chance to impress ahead of the big games in Dublin. Especially considering Conor O’Shea had already named a largely second-string Italy team.

Ross Byrne needs a start to see what he’s made of at Test level (Carbery has played a lot of rugby recently), while there could also be debuts for either Sam Arnold or Will Addison or even both. We’re going with the Munster man at 13 here, with Addison to get a start against USA.

IRELAND vs Italy

15. Andrew Conway
14. Darren Sweetnam
13. Sam Arnold
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Jordan Larmour
10. Ross Byrne
9. Kieran Marmion

1. Dave Kilcoyne
2. Rob Herring
3. John Ryan
4. Iain Henderson
5. Devin Toner
6. Rhys Ruddock (c)
7. Sean O’Brien
8. Jordi Murphy

The Argentina game will see things jump up several levels, but at the same time Schmidt might not go full belt here. We could see him have a look at his options in midfield and perhaps give John Cooney a chance to prove he should start ahead of Luke McGrath against the All Blacks.

Jack McGrath could also be given a chance to oust Cian Healy, and while we’ve gone with what we think is the strongest back-row combination – Schmidt could do a bit of tinkering here, such is the wealth of options available to him.

IRELAND vs Argentina

15. Rob Kearney
14. Keith Earls
13. Garry Ringrose/Robbie Henshaw
12. Bundee Aki
11. Jacob Stockdale
10. Johnny Sexton
9. John Cooney

1. Jack McGrath
2. Sean Cronin
3. Andrew Porter
4. Tadhg Beirne
5. James Ryan
6. Peter O’Mahony (c)
7. Dan Leavy
8. CJ Stander

This is where things get interesting. A chance at the one team in the entire world that stands above them in the rankings. The mighty All Blacks, the world champions. Schmidt will of course pick his best team available for this game, but what is his best team?

Your guess is as good as ours. Picking a nine in place of Murray will be tough, but we’re giving the nod to McGrath simply because he’s played in the big games that matter time and time again with Leinster, whereas the others are still lacking in that area.

The centre partnership and back-row will also be tough, as will who partners James Ryan in the second-row, but we’ve gone for the most common choices in the Ireland rugby circle of late.

IRELAND vs New Zealand

15. Rob Kearney
14. Keith Earls
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. Jacob Stockdale
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Luke McGrath

1. Cian Healy
2. Rory Best (c)
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Tadhg Beirne
5. James Ryan
6. Peter O’Mahony
7. Dan Leavy
8. CJ Stander

Ireland’s final game of their November series sees the USA travel to Dublin in what promises to be an entertaining encounter. As already stated expect plenty of fringe players to get a chance here.

We could see starts for Jordan Larmour at fullback (hopefully) and the uncapped Will Addison coming into midfield. We also expect Finlay Bealham to get a start here if he doesn’t against Italy, as well as fellow Connacht man Quinn Roux.

IRELAND vs USA

15. Jordan Larmour
14. Andrew Conway
13. Will Addison
12. Bundee Aki
11. Darren Sweetnam
10. Joey Carbery
9. John Cooney

1. Jack McGrath
2. Niall Scannell
3. Finlay Bealham
4. Devin Toner
5. Quinn Roux
6. Sean O’Brien (c)
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Jack Conan