We believe every Ireland rugby fan deserves a chance to step into Joe Schmidt’s shoes and pick the team. Or to put it another way…
There’s an unwritten rule online about team sports…for every “perfect team” a fan can list on the internet, there will always be someone who will come back with something like “I can’t believe you have X there instead of Y!”.
But once there’s an element of respect about it, we here at HoR believe that’s a good thing. And last season we ran a feature known as the “Lions Selector Panel” whereby one fan from each of the four Lions nations picked their ideal starting test XV every four weeks.
It went down so well that we have decided to re-invent it for the Irish team over the forthcoming season. We have four bloggers lined up, one from each province, all of them new to HoR. Starting next week they will take turns naming their Ireland lineup every Tuesday, and we get to see how their opinions change throughout the season.
The rules are simple…the blogger must select a matchday 23 based on available players (available in terms of fitness, not player protection of course!) for a competitive test match to be played the following weekend, whether there is one or not.
And of course we won’t let them away with simply naming their team either, they must give us a justification or two. Or indeed, twenty-three.
Then it’s over to you…is it a good team? A crazy team? Have they let their provincial loyalties rule their selection or are they going too far to hide them? The project won’t work without your two cents.
Over the next four weeks, we will introduce the four bloggers in question who will make their opening selections. Then the season will be in full swing and they will continue the rotation until the end of May.
We hope you’ll join us in letting the Schmidt hit the fan! JLP
