Team Picked On Form ??

Last time around there were six Ulster players on the bench, five of them are now on the starting XV and their places taken by five Munster players.

Last time around there were six Ulster players on the bench, five of them are now on the starting XV and their places taken by five Munster players. What province a player is from should not make a whit of difference but some of the selections over the past three weeks would make a cat laugh.

Consider this. Anthony Foley was considered good enough to captain the side against the All Blacks but then he went in coach-speak, missing through selection for the entire series.

David Humphreys has been an exemplary professional down the years, a player of no mean skill and one who has served his province and his country well. But he will be 36 next birthday. He came on in the game against Australia and was directly responsible for the two tries that effectively buried Ireland.

It would be safe to say that there is probably nothing more that Eddie O Sullivan needs to know about Geordan Murphy. He is a class attacking full-back – particularly on the counter from broken play – a bit suspect in defence, who has yet to produce his Leicester form for Ireland. He flung a scoring pass into touch and went exit-stage left when confronted by Chris Latham. All that aside, well worthy of his place but for the love of God, what is he doing playing against Romania ?

But if what province one represents should have no bearing on selection, the jurisdiction is another matter.

We had been given to understand that players who opted to play their rugby abroad would drop down the Ireland pecking order and with this in mind players such as Bob Casey and Trevor Brennan and a host more have missed out.

Johnny O Connor also seemed to fall into this category until recent times, then his irrepressible form for the best side in Britain forced Eddie O Sullivan to call him up.

But then you look at the latest selection and the case of Leo Cullen versus Mick O Driscoll or Matt McCullough. Or even Shane Byrne versus Jerry Flannery.

Cullen jumped ship as it were at the start of this season while O Driscoll came home. O Driscoll has started in every game for Munster while Cullen has mostly been used from the bench yet O Driscoll doesn t even make the winter squad and when he s eventually called up, he has to play second fiddle to the Leicester man.

Mind you, if O Driscoll supporters are confused, then Cullen s team-mate at Welford Road, Shane Jennings, must be totally befuddled.

Shane Byrne turns down an IRFU contract and heads for the bright lights of London town. In fairness to him he has been woefully short of game time and his performance reflected that. And yet he retains his place ahead of Flannery.

Now with all due respect to Romania or if indeed there was anything at stake one might understand why experience was the order of the day. But there is nothing at stake on Saturday.

Why not use this opportunity to see what else we have. Like Robert Kearney. And if it might be considered folly to throw in a young lad of his tender years then stick on reliable Girvan Dempsey – forget of course that the Terenure man would never get into a Munster side ahead of Shaun Payne – until things have settled down and then spring Kearney from the bench.

The same could be said of Denis Leamy. The Tipp man has done well against two superpowers. So what more will be learned from playing him against Romania and why not use the opportunity to blood someone else.