Diack Earns International Upgrade

At the end of a week when one prominent Ulster flanker, Stephen Ferris, has been obliged to call time on his notable rugby-playing career, another Ulster wing forward has been selected for the Ireland XV that will do battle against Argentina on Saturday. 28-year-old South African born Robbie Diack will be the only player amongst the starting line-up to win his first Irish cap.

Robbie joins fellow Ulster forwards Rory Best, Ian Henderson and Chris Henry, as well as the trio of three quarters Darren Cave, Luke Marshall, and Andrew Trimble. It is refreshing to see a large helping of seven Ulster players in the Ireland XV. Let us hope that they do their province and the national team justice. Meanwhile, not a single Leinster player can be found amongst the back division, accepting the fact that Jonny Sexton is not currently a Leinster representative. It will be most unusual to see an Ireland back division, missing such evergreens as D'Arcy, Kearney, and of course O'Driscoll. One will have to go back many years to find the last time that an Ireland XV did not contain a single back from Leinster. The eastern province can draw some comfort from the fact that young Jordi Murphy has been handed the opportunity to deputise for the rested Jamie Heaslip at number eight. Joe Schmidt's line-up possesses both experienced and fringe players. Hopefully this cocktail of regulars and promising hopefuls will combine well. It certainly bodes well for the future to see a variety of players being awarded valuable game time against decent opposition, thereby ensuring that many candidates can acquit themselves in future skirmishes. There is nothing more stale than relying upon the same pool of players, and fortunately Joe Schmidt is determined to avoid that scenario.