A short piece for www.balls.ie as part of their inaugural Rugby Nerds panel. The team below has been selected from those who Declan Kidney has actually included in the squad.

Earls, Bowe, McFadden, D’Arcy, Zebo, Sexton, Reddan, Healy, Strauss, Ross, Ryan, O’Connell, Ferris, Henry, Heaslip
Bench: Fitzpatrick, Cronin, Tom Court, McLoughlin, O’Mahony, Trimble, Marshall, O’Gara

No Brian O’Driscoll, no Rory Best; in the face of the loss of two such senior men, my Ireland team would play it relatively safe in many areas.

In the pack, I’d leave the meddling to a minimum by putting Strauss straight into the front row alongside his Leinster colleagues. Donnacha Ryan should start at lock and Chris Henry should play at seven to provide some balance to the back row.

Where the backline is concerned, it begins with the Leinster halfback partnership of Reddan and Sexton. In O’Driscoll’s absence Gordon D’arcy becomes a must-start in the centre with the only debate being which of McFadden or Earls should slot in beside him. For me, it’s a no-brainer to put D’arcy’s provincial teammate in there and use Earls at full back. Tommy Bowe is an automatic selection on the right wing and, although I’m not his biggest fan, the infectious confidence that Simon Zebo’s game currently displays should be rewarded with a start on the left.

On the bench I’d have Kevin McLoughlin in reserve to cover both second row and blind side with Peter O’Mahony providing cover for all three back row positions. In the front row Tom Court is a perfectly adequate loose head and at tight head I’d pick Declan Fitzpatrick ahead of Michael Bent, rewarding the former’s performances on the tour to New Zealand while giving the latter a little more time to tour Ireland. In the backs, the versatility of McFadden, Bowe and Earls allow me to pick Trimble on the bench to join Paul Marshall, now that he’s finally in the squad, and a thoroughly fitness-tested Ronan O’Gara.

What do I think Declan Kidney will do? Kidney has long given the distinct impression that he regards Earls as a potentially great outside centre; nobody could be too surprised if Kidney were to take this opportunity to slot in Earls outside D’arcy, play McFadden or Trimble on the wing and move Tommy Bowe to full back, a role he has never fulfilled with anything approaching regularity at the professional level.

Kidney’s starting XV will probably have Conor Murray at scrum half and Peter O’Mahony at open side wing forward. I’d also put a decent wager on him starting Donncha O’Callaghan alongside Paul O’Connell in the second row and possibly even Sean Cronin ahead of Richardt Strauss because of the unquantifiable “debutante” element.

On the bench he might well go for the Irish-passport-holding Michael Bent at tight head, one of the Donn(a)chas, Chris Henry and possibly an extra back row in the shape of Kevin McLoughlin, Mike McCarthy or even Iain Henderson taking the place of a third back. Reddan and ROG will complete his bench.

Read the full article, along with the teams proffered by the other esteemed panel members over at balls.ie.