Declan Kidney could face some tough decisions as more players make claims for starting spots in the Irish team. For the remaining matches, the number 9 jersey could still be up for grabs between two powerful Munster men. Andrew Carey examines the options between the youth of Tomas O’Leary and the experience of Peter Stringer.
IT’s healthy rivalry, so let’s get that out of the way first off, but thankfully, and that can not be over stated enough, both Munster and Ireland have a slight embarrassment of riches when it comes to the scrum half slot on both sides. Notwithstanding the contribution made by Limerick’s very own Eoin Reddan in recent times, Tomas O’Leary and Peter Stringer have emerged from the RBS pile of rubble left in the wake of the last three Irish victories as the key men in the anchor berth at 9.
Tomas, the 24-year-old Cork man, is what many considered to be the muscle behind the pack that erodes through many a provincial and national side. He too operates around the fringes with a certain degree of physical prowess.
A GAA man by heart, O’Leary joined the love-in for rugby in 2001 as his addiction grew for the game. It’s now six years in the making.
O’Leary is a livewire scrum half with a snappy delivery where he excelled for Munster in their 2007/08 Heineken Cup-winning campaign when he took over the number nine jersey and made it his own from Stringer, his fellow punchy Cork native.
Son to Seanie O’Leary, Tomas turned his sights away from the GAA after securing back-to-back All Ireland hurling medals with his native county. Moving to rugby, Tomas was part of the 2004 Irish Under-21 World Championship team and has also stared for the Irish Sevens side.
It may have been O’Leary’s fast feet and power that edged out Strings but O’Leary has grown on many as a powerful, almost Gallic styled, deliverer of the ball from the base of an equally powerful front eight.
His line-breaks and winger-esque style are favourable traits for the Dolphin man, but it was his control of box kicking and defensive lines that signalled him out from the rest.
O’Leary got his first international break in the Guinness Autumn International series in November when he was selected by Kidney to face the All Blacks in Croke Park.
“Tomas has worked very hard. He’s worked with several coaches through his scrum half career and he’s been picking up bits and pieces,” the Ireland coach explained at the time.
“Tomas is keeping out some exceptionally good players. Obviously I think highly of him.”
And it is there that the latest question has reared its ugly head as to whether in the cold light of day, is Tomas really ready.
You could have said that, without a shadow of a doubt, just before the Six Nations Championship began. But as the championship has unfolded, many have wondered about the option that a rejuvenated Peter Stringer can bring.
The man, the small man that may be a diminutive scrum half at nine, has a huge heart that has seen it all.
We all know of the telepathic nature between himself and O’Gara in what became one of the most famous double acts in world rugby as they made 49 test starts together.
Cast your thoughts back to his debut when he joined a similarly fresh faced Ronan O’Gara at the start of an international career spanning nine seasons.
Cast your thoughts back to the “Braveheart try” in the Heineken Cup final in Cardiff in 2006.
Cast them to the All Blacks game in Thomond Park when he put his body where no other man would as he took that huge tackle in the chest just so he could draw the defender and let Barry Murphy cross the try line to score the only try that the ‘Blacks’ conceded on that tour.
He felt every bit of that tackle from his chest through to his finger tips and toes. 26,000 fans in the ground and the million or so that watched on TV felt it too. But a big heart won’t get you around the field of rugby on it’s own. Skill, passion and desire are all boxes that ‘Strings’ can tick.
His bullet-like pass, ultra competitive nature and telepathic understanding with ROG have helped Peter become an indispensable member of the Ireland squad since his debut against Scotland in February 2000.
But of late, maybe it’s because he’s on the bench and is itching to get his ass off it, that we see what Stringer can bring to the game.
His dynamic nature and spark is nothing short of lively and often the injection that a game, teetering on the edge, needs.
The only thing that we can debate is as to whether the spark is enough for 20 minutes at the end of the game or is more needful from the get go.
It’s a decision, amongst others, that rests with another Cork man in Declan Kidney. Is it a decision any one would relish? No, but secretly isn’t it a great one to be in the position to have to make. The right selection in an embarrassment of riches.
