Andy Farrell insists he's going into the Rugby World Cup warm-up games with an open mind around selection.
The Six Nations Grand Slam champions take on Italy in the first of three warm-up matches this Saturday (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player), with several fringe players being given an opportunity to impress.
Some of those are established internationals - Keith Earls and Jacob Stockdale both make returns to the green jersey - while debutants Calvin Nash, Ciarán Frawley and Tom Stewart are among nine players in the matchday squad who have fewer than 10 caps.
Given Ireland's rise to number one in the world rankings over the last year, a clear pecking order has emerged in certain positions in the squad
And with Farrell eventually having to cut his 42-man squad down to 33 by the end of August, the head coach insists selection is not a closed shop.
"It is open because it has to be, to give people a fair opportunity you've got to be open-minded," he said.
"If I am [open-minded], everyone else will be as well. Hence, everyone’s excited to get going."
Farrell (below) says he's yet to decide whether or not he'll whittle down his squad gradually before finally settling on a final 33.
However, he knows that some of those who don't make the final cut are still likely to feature at the World Cup, given the attritional nature of the game.
"There's also people on the outside of those [42] who have unbelievably unlucky.
"People nursing injuries, people we believe are on the way back from from a difficult time last year.
"People who have got money in the bank as well, you know, are certainly in the reckoning if they are fit and able.
"This World Cup – I'm not at good at predicting anyway but if I was a betting man I’d think that there will be more players used, just because of the nature of concussion and everything that goes with it.
"You look at the U20s World Cup, how that was pulled from pillar to post. You’ve certainly got to be adaptable so keeping people going and making sure that all 42 are able – or not. I suppose we’ll find out in the coming weeks."
Having finished the Six Nations in style with a Grand Slam, Ireland have now won 10 games in a row dating back more than a year.
Maintaining that ruthless streak with an experimental side will be key for Ireland as they build towards the World Cup next month, and Farrell said he doesn't want a repeat of their below par performance against Fiji last November, when a much-changed Ireland looked off the pace without their frontline stars.
"I've referenced it [that Fiji game] to them, I’ve been honest with them in that regard.
"We’ve been excellent at being adaptable to what’s been thrown at us throughout the New Zealand tour, with all sorts of things happening, midweek games, Covid, injuries, etc. We’ve been great in that regard.
"I go back to the point, it takes all 33 in a 33-man squad to be absolutely rock solid to be able to win a World Cup.
"And that's why I’m looking forward to this game more than a lot of games we’ve played in the past really and that’s why, when you make so many changes, that you’ve got to have a bit of balance within that as well."
Throughout this World Cup cycle, and in particular the last two years, Farrell and the squad haven't shied away from their target of winning the World Cup, rather than just getting beyond Ireland's traditional quarter-final barrier.
And the head coach says that target hasn't changed.
"Why wouldn't we [believe we can win]? Why wouldn’t we?
"There’s only an attitude within the group that we chase every day to make sure that we’re better as a team, better as individuals. What we’ve done in the past adds a little bit of belief.
"How we’re pushing to try and get better in our training obviously will be built and will be judged in the coming weeks but the confidence that we hope to have going into a world cup has to be rock solid. There’s no point in turning up for a world if we don’t believe that we can win it."
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