IRELAND V BARBRIANS, THURSDAY, 7.45PM
KISS: CHANCE TO IMPRESS US
IRELAND’S 27-man squad picked to play the Barbarians is made up of 19 Leinster players and eight from Ulster.
With Munster involved in this weekend’s Pro12 League final and Connacht playing last Sunday in the Champions Cup play-off, their players have not been considered.
But Irish assistant coach Les Kiss believes this game gives some fringe players a chance to prove their worth.
He said: “There has been a nice level of players, in terms of quantity, that have sort of asked the question of us. The obvious position you look at is tighthead prop. You’ve got Tadhg Furlong and Rodney Ah You still performing and we’ve got to keep as broad a base as possible in terms of options available to us.”
Kiss added: “We have an official pre-season starting in the last couple of days of June. Working right to the World Cup, we’ve got four games.
“A lot of things can happen in that time. More of the players could put their hand up in every position.”