Ireland take on Wales in the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, February 7th, and since Joe Schmidt announced his squad for that game there has been much discussion as to who we are going to see in the starting lineup.
We know that Rory Best will captain the side, which is well deserved, and we know that Garry Ringrose will not be starting at centre like many had hoped, but one thing that is splitting opinion among Irish fans is whether or not CJ Stander will be given the nod from kickoff, and if so where he would play.
Speaking on 2FM's 'Game On', former Ireland out-half and current coach at the seriously in-form Racing Metro, Ronan O'Gara explained why he feels that CJ Stander may be used as more of an impact sub, which is something he realised is a popular coaching method from a chat with Jim Gavin.
The standard of some of the European games this season would be a long way off what is going to happen at Test level in the Six Nations. Everything happens a little but quicker at the top level and from that point of view it will be interesting to see how CJ goes in the A versus B games which happen every Monday or Tuesday of Irish camp in the week before the Welsh game.
There's no doubt that he'll be in the 23 because of his impact value. He's a serious option off the bench.
Managements sometimes prefer finishing with the stronger team rather than starting with the stronger team which is something I learned from Jim Gavin.
Name-dropping like a bad rapper there, ROG.
He does have a point though. It is unlikely that Jamie Heaslip will be dropped from his number eight spot, but Stander could start at six. He also could be introduced later for impact, as O'Gara has explained, so we'll wait and see if there is any indication as to what may happen as we get closer to the match.
O'Gara also commented on the omission of Ringrose, which it seems that he believes is the correct decision at this moment in time:
It's a Test environment, so the question in my head is he going to start against Wales? Because it's not a developing squad it's a real Test match with essentially 10 days preparation.
If Joe doesn't get results then everyone starts screaming and shouting for him to get his act together.
Brian O'Driscoll did suggest that Schmidt could do far worse than trowing the UCD student in at the deep end, but in all honesty it seems as though the 2016 Six Nations may have come too early for him. You never know though, a few injuries in certain positions and he could find himself out on the pitch before the tournament's end.
It all kicks off on Saturday, February 6th when France host Italy at 14:25 Irish time, and we can't wait for Six Nations rugby to be back.
via Independent.ie
