Time for Smyth to spread his wings?

Carlow’s Stephen Smyth may not have played on Friday night, but his very presence in the Ireland XV squad indicates his current standing within the Irish rugby ladder.

With the Ireland senior squad bereft of 15 players heading into the Six Nations, Andy Farrell was forced to name an unfamiliar 37-man squad for the championship.

That severely limited the options available to Cullie Tucker when it came time for the Ireland XV Head Coach to name his squad for the clash with England 'A' in Thomond Park.

Tucker initially named a 27-man squad for the game, but four of those players joined Ireland’s burgeoning injury list, meaning England 'A' were left to face the most inexperienced and untested members among the Irish rugby ranks.

The result was an absolute hammering for Tucker's side, who coughed up eight tries on their way to a 52-14 defeat.

The Ireland XV team would normally feature the third- or fourth- choice players in each position, but on Friday night we were down to fielding fifth-, sixth- and event seventh-choice players in a number of key positions.

One area in which Ireland are overflowing with talent, however, is at hooker - something of an obstacle in terms of progression for Carlow’s Stephen Smyth.

The former Askea GAA player plays for Old Wesley in the All-Ireland League; captained the Ireland U19s side; scored a World Cup try for the Ireland U20s; made his Leinster Senior in 2024; and came off the bench for Ireland XV during last year's Six Nations, also in a game against England 'A'.

However, Ireland and Leinster are stacked with a litany of phenomenal hookers, blocking Smyth's path up the ladder.

Leinster's first-choice hooker, Dan Sheehan, is arguably the best player in world in that position. He is backed up by Ronan Kelleher, a British and Irish Lion; a young sensation in Gus McCarthy, who has already played in the Six Nations; and John McKee, who has captained Leinster on a occasion when they were missing their big guns.

Then, just when it looked as though that was the final hurdle for Smyth, two more hookers have emerged from the Leinster Academy: Billy Sheehan, younger brother of Dan; and Laois man Lee Fitzpatrick, who made a big impression for the Ireland U20s last year.

At international level, Ulster's Tom Stewart has replaced his provincial teammate Rob Herring as third choice behind Sheehan and Kelleher; while it was Munster's Diarmuid Barron who was named on the bench against England 'A' to provide cover for Ireland XV's starting hooker, Gus McCarthy.

But despite clearly being behind John McKeee at Leinster, Smyth does have the edge over him in those eyes of the Irish coaches. The Carlow man did not play in Thomond Park, but he was third-choice in the squad; with no injuries to speak of at hooker, we can surmise that Smyth is firmly sixth-choice overall for Ireland - for now at least. 

"To be fair to Stevie, he's been injured for quite a long time," Ireland XV Head Coach Cullie Tucker said ahead of the game last week. 

"So, you know, very, very good player, huge potential player, great size for a hooker, has great feel for the game, good hands.

"So, yeah, it's just about getting him more exposure really, you know, in the set-up. He toured last year as well - he's just had a tough time with injuries this season. So, hopefully they'll clear up for him."

This comes at a time when the IRFU are faced with the conundrum of having too many decent players but not enough professional teams for those players to to become good or even potentially great internationals.

The chess pieces are in the process of being moved, with Ciaran Frawley and Will Connors leaving the congested squad at Leinster for hopefully more game time at Connacht.

There is also the alternate route as taken by Harry Byrne when he went on loan to Bristol Bears last season, a move that has helped catapult him back into contention for the Irish number ten jersey.

For Smyth to advance up the ladder and put himself in the best possible position to fulfill his potential, then he needs to step away from Leinster - a brave decision, but not unprecedented. 

Gone are the days when all you had to do to become an overnight sensation in Irish rugby was spend a few Tuesdays every month at Stuart Lancaster's famous Leinster training sessions. 

Munster, Ulster and Connacht are all short on quality hookers, and Smyth could be a revelation at any one of them - not on a permanent basis, but rather a medium-term loan of 18 to 24 months.

Smyth would also have plenty of options if he were to spend a similar amount of time on loan abroad.

The English Premiership would seem the logical step, with 14 Irish players currently signed to eight of the ten clubs. Perennial winners of the Championship, Ealing Trailfinders, are a Premiership club in all but name, and would also make a good temporary home for Smyth, who would become the seventh Irishman on Ealing's books.

Then there's France, who have almost as many professional teams as the rest of the rugby playing world combined. There are currently five Irishmen playing across five different clubs in the Top 14 and another nine playing for seven different clubs in the Pro D2.