Depleted Ireland Will Be No Weaklings

Depleted Ireland Will Be No Weaklings

Ireland may be without some top players due to the Lions tour, but watch out regardless.

Jun 6, 2017 by Alex Goff
Depleted Ireland Will Be No Weaklings
Rhys Ruddock will captain the Ireland men's national rugby team as it faces the USA Eagles on Saturday, June 10 in Harrison, NJ, and the Leicester loose forward will have a somewhat depleted squad to follow him -- but don't let that fool you.

This is a British and Irish Lions tour year, which means Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland will be without some (or possibly many) key players. That's why these teams end up playing slightly lower-tier opponents than usual. Scotland plays Italy, Fiji, and Australia (OK, that last on is a bit of a stretch); England tours Argentina; Wales plays Tonga and Samoa. And Ireland will play the USA and Japan.

The last time Ireland stepped on U.S. soil was last fall when it beat New Zealand for the first time ever. But Irish head coach Joe Schmidt has a different squad of 31 for this trip, with eight uncapped players and only five who have been capped more than 20 times. In addition, Ireland has 11 players touring with the Lions.

USA History vs. Ireland

Nov. 5, 1994: Ireland 26, USA 15 - Dublin

Jan. 6, 1996: Ireland 25, USA 18 - Atlanta

Oct. 2, 1999: Ireland 53, USA 8 (RWC) - Dublin

June 10, 2000: Ireland 83, USA 3 - Manchester, NH

Nov. 20, 2004: Ireland 55, USA 6 - Dublin

May 31, 2009: Ireland 27, USA 10 - Santa Clara, CA

Sept. 11, 2011: Ireland 22, USA 10 (RWC) - New Plymouth, NZ

June 8, 2013: Ireland 15, USA 12 - Houston

But it would be a mistake to dismiss this Ireland squad as "Ireland B" or something like that. To do so would be to overlook the talent playing professionally in Ireland underneath the international level. Some more jaded USA fans may look at an international team missing 11 likely starters and think the dropoff will be huge. Well, that's been true of the USA team in the past, for sure, but countries such as Ireland are supremely deep. They can have a player with 100 caps missing from their lineups and replace him with someone who is almost as good.

To prove that, let's look at previous years when a Lions-depleted team has come to the USA. 

In 2001, England came to San Francisco and beat the USA 48-19 in a game that really was much closer. That England team included Graham Rowntree, Simon Shaw, Steve Borthwick, Josh Lewsey, Lewis Moody, and Joe Worsley -- all of whom had well over 50 caps in their careers.

In 2005, Wales showed up and took apart the Eagles 77-3. It was not a good day for the USA, made worse by the fact that the Eagles had come close to beating France a year before at the same venue (Rentschler Field in Hartford, CT). And while some scoffed that this was a Wales C team, it contained a young Adam Jones (95 caps and a British and Irish Lion), Colin Charvis (96 caps and a Lion), debutant hooker Matt Rees (63 caps and a Lion), and lock Ian Gough (64 caps).

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Four years later, Ireland showed up with a bunch of bodies and was fortunate to get away with a 27-10 win over the USA. Rory Best was in his first year of playing for Ireland but has since topped 100 tests and is now with the Lions. Peter Stringer was on that team, and he has been capped 98 times. Dennis Leamy made his debut against the USA a year before but would top 50 caps by the time he finished his career. 

And finally in 2013, the Eagles almost beat Ireland, losing 15-12 in Houston. That supposedly lesser Ireland team included Devin Toner, who is a star lock for Ireland now (and will be back this year), and three guys who are now touring with the British and Irish Lions.

The point is that Ireland might appear to be ripe for the picking compared to past years, but this Irish team still won't be weak. Some international experience may be lacking, but the players have tons of professional and high-performance experience to draw on in this weekend's matchup. If you go see the game, you're likely going to see someone who will be winning the Six Nations or touring with the Lions in a few years. It's no coincidence that Ireland has come to the USA three Lions years in a row... its players get something out of it.

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And the USA team that plays Ireland? Who knows? It's easy to forget that there are some pretty impressive players (Blaine Scully, Samu Manoa) not with the current USA team... and the Eagles are going to front up just fine.