These Are The Men That Should Have Made Joe Schmidt’s Ireland Squad To Play England

Joe Schmidt named his England team today much to many Irish fans delight as they finally get to see Stuart McCloskey and Robbie Henshaw team up in midfield.

Schmidt has also handed Leinster flanker Josh Van Der Flier his debut at 7 and overall has named a squad that has every chance of defeating England. There are however a few players that are very unlucky to have missed out and perhaps really should have made the squad.

Paddy Jackson

The Ulster man must be thinking to himself, what does he have to do to get into the Ireland squad? Clearly the in-form option ahead of Ian Madigan.

Tommy O’Donnell

The Munster man must be wondering what he did wrong to be dropped entirely from Schmidt’s squad. No issue with giving Van Der Flier a go, but O’Donnell has to be on the bench for us despite Ruddock’s versatility. O’Donnell can play 6 or 7 and Stander can play 6 or 8, plenty of cover.

Kieran Marmion

The Connacht man is just 24 and playing great rugby in the PRO12 this year. Reddan is probably in his last season- a wasted opportunity if you ask us.

Sean Cronin

Another selection that baffles us. Cronin as an impact sub is like brining on another backrow. A superb player he will be gutted to miss out again this weekend.

Craig Gilroy

This is a tricky one. You can see the reasoning behind Zebo being on the bench as he can cover fullback and Rob Kearney’s fitness is dodgy at the moment. You can’t really justify dropping Earls or Trimble for him either but Gilroy has to get a mention. He’s been one of Ulster’s standout players this season and should at the very least get a start against Italy or Scotland.