Joe Schmidt has officially named his World Cup squad and, of course, he has had to make some really tough decisions. Here are his five biggest calls.
1. Leaving out Andrew Trimble
Trimble was the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Player of the Year in 2014 following a brilliant Six Nations campaign but after a troubled 12 months with injury, the Ulsterman can count himself very unfortunate to miss out on a place in the World Cup squad.
2. The inclusion of Tadhg Furlong
22-year-old Furlong only made his debut on Saturday against Wales but has obviously impressed Joe to the point where he has been selected ahead of the more experienced Michael Bent and injury troubled Marty Moore.
3. Darren Cave's selection
Cave has claimed before that he has never really been given a 'good crack at' at playing or Ireland so now it seems he is taking his chance. The inclusion of the Ulster centre shows Schmidt sees the potential that Cave clearly has.
4. Only bringing two scrum halves
A decision which was influenced by the Cave selection, Schmidt is hoping that Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan stay injury free throughout the tournament. Rumours are that he has faith in Ian Madigan as a third choice scrum half should an issue arise. Only time will tell if this was a gamble worth taking.
5. Leaving out Gordon D'Arcy
While D'Arcy wasn't likely to feature hugely on the pitch, his experience within the camp would have been of huge benefit to the squad. It's a shame that he doesn't get one last swansong.
