Joe Schmidt has spoken to the media following his announcement of the squad for the World Cup this morning. For those of you in a hurry, here's the gist of went down.
- He spent six hours mulling over the Trimble decision on Sunday
- Ian Madigan has been preparing for quite a while to play scrum half
- Schmidt approached him with the idea last season
- Keith Earls is following the return to play protocols
- Darren Cave is in as a specialist centre given that Henshaw and Payne aren't as experienced in the position
- Michael Bent was very close to making the squad
- The performance Simon Zebo - along with Kearney - at full-back edged Felix Jones out of the squad
- Cian Healy is cleared to play against England but they'll decide on him later in the week
Schmidt said that Trimble was in and out of the squad during his drafts on Sunday but in the end, his recovery from a foot injury really hampered his chances.
Meanwhile it turns out the Ian Madigan scrum half idea actually originated last season. Schmidt approached Madigan with the thought and he's been working a lot at scrum half over the off-season.
Within the last week Madigan has started to play in the position in a team training environment.
In terms of injury news, Keith Earls is recovering well from Saturday and following the return-to-play protocols at the moment. Cian Healy is now cleared to play although his lack of preparation means he may not feature against England at the weekend.
