Update On Why Jacob Stockdale, Iain Henderson & Bundee Aki Were Dropped From Ireland Squad

Sweeping changes.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt named his Ireland team earlier this morning, making sweeping changes and a few surprise selections.

While we all expected the likes of Dan Leavy, Tadhg Furlong, Johnny Sexton and Cian Healy to come into the starting line-up – we perhaps didn’t expect Bundee Aki, Iain Henderson and Jacob Stockdale to be dropped from the squad entirely.

While Garry Ringrose was expected to come back in, many believed it may have been Robbie Henshaw to lose out having only recently returned from injury and not played his best game last weekend. Stockdale losing out to Andrew Conway also came as a surprise, especially considering it was Keith Earls who has been struggling with concussion symptoms all week.

But it turns out all three players did not train on Tuesday – and as we all know under Schmidt, if you haven’t trained by Tuesday during a match week, chances are you won’t be considered.

That being said, the selection decisions may work out better for Ireland regardless. Andrew Conway’s ability under the ball will be huge up against Israel Folau, while Devin Toner is known for his ‘latches’ that will work to prevent David Pocock from stealing ball.

Ringrose will also offer Ireland a lot more flair and expansiveness in attack. Either way – it’s a good selection from Schmidt.

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