With his eyes on bigger prizes, Joe Schmidt will field an experimental Ireland side to face Italy on Saturday in Chicago [8pm Irish time].
The head coach, whose team also face Argentina, New Zealand and the USA in the coming weeks, has opted to leave behind 16 players – who have 681 caps between them – from an original panel of 42 for the Test against Conor O’Shea’s Italy, who have also travelled with an understrength squad.
Only two of the backs that started in Ireland's last game - against Australia in Sydney at the end of June - are included: Bundee Aki and Jacob Stockdale, while Jordan Larmour came on as a replacement.
That means that Johnny Sexton, Rob Kearney, Keith Earls and Robbie Henshaw are rested, with scrum-half Conor Murray, holder of 67 caps, not considered match fit at this stage.
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However, among the 15 travelling forwards, eight played some part in the series-clinching 20-16 win in Sydney.
Hooker Rory Best, the captain, and back rows Peter O’Mahony and Sean O’Brien are also kept in reserve for the home games at the Aviva.
Prop Cian Healy is also rested so Jack McGrath and Dave Kilcoyne provide the loosehead options, while Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter will cover the other side of the front row. The versatile Finlay Bealham is also on the flight.
With Schmidt holding back Best, who has played for the last four weeks, hookers Sean Cronin and Niall Scannell will share the duties.
Iain Henderson is another experienced player left at home and that opens a spot for Tadhg Beirne to get his first start and his third cap, most likely alongside Devin Toner or James Ryan in the second row. Quinn Roux is also on the plane.
In the absence of Dan Leavy, O’Mahony and O’Brien, Josh van der Flier, Rhys Ruddock and Jack Conan are likely frontrunners for the back row with Jordi Murphy looking to break his way into the reckoning on the pitch where he scored against New Zealand two years ago before suffering a serious knee injury.
Scrum-half John Cooney [2 caps] will be eager to get his first start for Ireland, while Luke McGrath, who hasn’t played an international game since last November’s tie with Argentina, also hoping to push up the pecking order.
Joey Carbery is likely to start at out-half with a debut waiting for Leinster’s Ross Byrne off the bench.
Aki, Garry Ringrose and Will Addison will probably vie for two centre spots, with Andrew Conway and Jacob Stockdale the most likely wing options.
Darren Sweetnam will be hoping his fine showings in recent late call-ups for Munster push him into contention.
Larmour [6 caps] will benefit from a start at full-back as Schmidt aims to bolster his options in that position.
While there is a lot of talk about the back-up scrum-half and out-half, Kearney, leaving aside the 2017 summer tour when he was rested, has started 17 of the last 20 Tests.
With Simon Zebo out of the frame and Earls excelling on the wing, the 21-year-old Larmour must get another chance to learn the ropes at 15.
With very little wriggle room to play around with against the Pumas on Saturday week, and none whatsoever on 17 November when the world’s number one team visit, this is the chance for Schmidt to give valuable game time to the understudies, who must be primed in the event of injury to Murray, Sexton or Kearney.
The trick for the Ireland boss is to get the win, give game time to a number of key back-up players and get out of Chicago with a clean bill of health.
Easier said than done.
Ireland possible: (15-9) Jordan Larmour, Andrew Conway, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Joey Carbery, John Cooney; (1-8) Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin, Andrew Porter, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
