Ahead of Ireland's Six Nations opener against Scotland this weekend, Ronan O'Gara, speaking on Tuesday's OTB AM, argued that the versatility of Ulster's John Cooney may find him better suited to a place on Andy Farrell's bench.
The source of some debate in the build-up to Andy Farrell's first game in charge of the Irish Rugby team, with his first starting XV likely to be revealed on Tuesday afternoon, it appears that John Cooney is set to miss out as Ireland's scrum-half in favour of Munster's Conor Murray.
A regular starter throughout Joe Schmidt's tenure in charge, it was thought that a dip in the Munster man's form would be enough to open the door for an impressive Cooney.
Although nothing is yet certain, Ronan O'Gara, speaking on Tuesday's OTB AM, believes Cooney's capabilities best suit a player who can emerge from the bench throughout.
"There are different ways of putting your team together," the La Rochelle head coach explained, "and from a backline point of view, if you have Cooney involved in your 23 do you need to carry an out-half sub?
"He is a goal-kicking #10 option which allows you to have two outfield backs which completely changes your dynamic in a squad."
3 January 2020; John Cooney of Ulster and Conor Murray of Munster during the Guinness PRO14 Round 10 match between Ulster and Munster at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Photo by Harry Murphy/SportsfileIn terms of Ireland's attacking options, the prospect of having John Cooney in reserve opens up all sorts of possibilities for a mid-game shift of emphasis.
"You could have Cooney, Aki, Conway or Addison on the bench and after maybe 50-minutes of giving one picture to Scotland of an attacking threat," suggested O'Gara, "you throw the likes of Aki or Conway into the mix and Scotland wouldn't have seen it coming.
"It opens all sorts of possibilities and it is risky when a coach is asking how to maximise his bench, but it becomes a little bit more risk-friendly when you have someone like John Cooney in your squad."
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