What with the superb Champions Cup performances by Munster, Leinster and Connacht (sorry, Ulster) the Six Nations has stolen a march upon us. Ireland kick-off at Murrayfield on February 4th, and Joe Schmidt will name his squad for the tournament this week.
Ahead of that announcement, Brian O'Driscoll joined appeared on BT Sport's Rugby Tonight to, among other things, answer a few questions pertaining to Ireland's squad selection.
First up, he was asked to name the players he expects to light up Ireland's Six Nations, and he chose three: Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander, and Jack McGrath.
Ringrose, argues O'Driscoll, was ready for action in last year's Six Nations, although Joe Schmidt opted not to use the Leinster youngster until the recent Autumn internationals. O'Driscoll explained the situation whereby Stander's fine form might keep his Munster captain Peter O'Mahony out of the back row. Well, Stander along with Jamie Heaslip and either Sean O'Brien or Josh Van Der Flier.
The third name among these was McGrath, whom O'Driscoll heralded as Mr. Consistency, and the favourite person to be the Lions No.1 this summer.
O'Driscoll's three to watch, meanwhile, are Niall Scannell, Stuart McCloskey, and Jack Conan. You can watch that clip below:
Especially with the injury to Sean Cronin and the way Munster are playing in the front row, you have Niall Scannell, who hasn't been capped yet. I imagine that he'll be in the mix.
Jack Conan had a huge performance for Leinster last week. The back row is hugely competitive, he is probably sixth or seventh down the pecking order. With a couple of injuries he could easily find his way in.
And up north, I think Stuart McCloskey has really put his hand up again. He didn't feature in the summer tour or in November but he has put in some really big performances and Joe Schmidt has to sit up and pay attention to that.
With the Ireland squad announced on Sunday, BOD tips Niall Scannell and Jack Conan for the nod. #RugbyTonight https://t.co/vZ22vUffwN
— Rugby Tonight (@RugbyTonight) January 18, 2017
When sizing up Ireland's opposition, O'Driscoll made an interesting observation on Wales: namely that they turn up in Lions years, citing their 2005 Grand Slam, and 2013 title, either side of their pushing Ireland unbearably close in 2009.
