Game Time Under Joe: The Numbers

When Joe Schmidt first became Irish coach he spoke of how critical it would be for us to develop depth across the park if we were to be successful, so I have gone and had a look at the game time per position over the course of his tenure. In total, we have played 18 games under Joe so far, which has been enough games for him to look at several different players per position. I have broken it down to be position specific so it's easier to see what positions game time has been more divided than others.

Key = Start(Sub)

Loosehead
• Jack McGrath 8(8), Cian Healy 8(4), David Kilcoyne 2(2), James Cronin 0(2)

Hooker
• Rory Best 16(0), Sean Cronin 1(15), Richardt Strauss 1(1), Damian Varley 0(1), Rob Herring 0(1)

Tighthead
• Mike Ross 18(0), Martin Moore 0(10), Rodney Ah You 0(3), Declan Fitzpatrick 0(2), Steven Archer 0(1), Jack McGrath 0(1)

Second Row
• Devon Toner 16(2), Paul O'Connell 15(1), Mike McCarthy 2(3), Ian Henderson 1(7), Dave Foley 1(1), Dan Tuohy 1(1)

Blindside Flanker
• Peter O'Mahony 14(0), Ian Henderson 1(2), Rhys Ruddock 1(1), Dominic Ryan 1(0), Robbie Diack 1(0), Kevin McLaughlin 0(2)

Openside Flanker
• Chris Henry 8(0), Sean O'Brien 6(1), Tommy O'Donnell 2(4), Rhys Ruddock 2(0)

Number 8
• Jamie Heaslip 14(1), Jordi Murphy 3(6), Robbie Diack 1(0), Robin Copeland 0(1)

Scrum Half
• Conor Murray 15(1), Eoin Reddan 3(7), Isaac Boss 0(4), Kieran Marmion 0(3)

Out Half
• Johnny Sexton 15(0), Ian Madigan 1(13), Paddy Jackson 1(4), Ian Keatley 1(1)

Centre
• Gordon D'Arcy 8(0), Brian O'Driscoll 8(0), Robbie Henshaw 7(1), Jared Payne 6(0), Darren Cave 3(0), Luke Marshall 3(0), Fergus McFadden 1(3), Stuart Olding 0(1), Noel Reid 0(1)

Wing
• Tommy Bowe 10(0), Simon Zebo 9(0), Andrew Trimble 7(0), Dave Kearney 6(1), Fergus McFadden 2(3), Luke Fitzgerald 1(1), Craig Gilroy 1(0)

Fullback
• Rob Kearney 16(0), Felix Jones 2(4)

Total Players Capped: 56
• Leinster: 24
• Ulster: 15
• Munster: 13
• Connacht: 3
• Racing Metro: 1

Newly Capped Players: 14
• Jack McGrath, James Cronin, Rob Herring, Martin Moore, Rodney Ah You, Dave Foley, Robbie Diack, Dominic Ryan, Jordi Murphy, Robin Copeland, Kieran Marmion, Jared Payne, Noel Reid, Dave Kearney

In total Joe has capped 56 different players. No doubt injuries have played a role in this but that is still an impressively high number of players to cap, while still being highly successful in the process. When looked at per position, apart from fullback there have been at least four players capped in each position, which shows that Joe has been successful in building depth across the squad. However it means that nearly half of the players used by Joe will be left out of the world cup squad. It is also impressive to see a massive fourteen new caps, which works out as 0.78 new caps per game.

On top of all the players capped, there have been further players, such as Earls, Bent and White who have all been involved in training as well as the Emerging Ireland tours which have taken place. In the past Joe has specifically spoken about how the purpose those tours was to allow players on the periphery of the squad to become accustomed to the different structures and systems used by the first team. I am sure that these have been useful for the players involved.

While Joe has done a great job of developing depth, there is still some way to go. He has started Mike Ross in every game, and despite bringing on five different tight heads from the bench, we would still be playing an inexperienced player if Ross was to get injured. Furthermore I think we lack an out and out 12. Don't get me wrong, Henshaw was excellent there for us during the six nations and he and Payne have built a solid partnership but with D'Arcy getting on we don't really have a viable alternative at the moment. These are both things I hope Joe looks at during the world cup warm up games.

What do you think? Is there anything else Joe could have done or should do prior to the world cup to develop depth?

*****Disclaimer: Putting in the substitute appearances was a bit subjective, for example, against Australia in 2013, Henshaw first came on as a blood sub for BOD in the centre, yet later came on permanently at full back for Kearney. Likewise, Jones often came on for centres during the six nations, yet there was a backline reshuffling, so for simplistic purposes I put all his appearances at fullback. So as a result, it may not be 100% accurate. It is also possible that I made mistakes, although I double checked everything******