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Is Devin Toner under serious threat from Iain Henderson?

With just hours to go before Ireland's World Cup squad is revealed, there are plenty of permutati...



Is Devin Toner under serious t...
Rugby

Is Devin Toner under serious threat from Iain Henderson?

With just hours to go before Ireland's World Cup squad is revealed, there are plenty of permutations to keep players and management up at night.

Two players almost certain to travel are second row Devin Toner and the versatile Iain Henderson, who could also compete for the same spot in the team beside Paul O'Connell.

Former Leinster captain Liam Toland joined us on Off The Ball to discuss Joe Schmidt's squad selection, but also touched on the potential for a starting lock battle between Toner and Henderson.

"His ball carrying is phenomenal for a second row/back-row player," he said of Henderson, who is also a back-row option and brings immense promise as an impact sub.

"But his work around the breakdown, his counter-rucking when he hit Alun-Wyn Jones - a Lions test-winning captain in Australia - and he just threw him back on his arse, not a bother. Then really crap ball, when the scrum-half arrives at the breakdown and if it's crap, slow ball, Sean O'Brien and Cian Healy are the two best guys to give that to because they have the sheer power to get across the gain-line and gain that extra foot. Henderson is a guy that can take crap ball from a standing start because his feet are quick and presents a difficult picture for the defender.

So how much pressure is Toner under in that case?

"I think Devin is a massive asset to the side and you look at the line-out malfunctioned and won 80 per cent of its throw in which they won't be happy with. So you would say Devin Toner as a line-out manager, leader along with Paul O'Connell, but also the fact that he is an almost guaranteed target in certain circumstances. He's done nothing to warrant being dropped," said Toland.

"The challenge for him is that Henderson is adding so much, so the question for me now is if you think forward to the squad announcement tomorrow and you think forward to the 23 players to be picked against France, don't just think of the starting XV: Who are going to impact off the bench? And I'd ask the question: Is Devin Toner better to start with Henderson coming on?" 

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