5 Players Who Boosted Their World Cup Chances with Fine Ends to Season

With the northern hemisphere season all but over, the major nations will soon be gathering their extended squads together for pre-World Cup camps.

The tried and tested model of choosing an inflated party to then whittle down to the prescribed 31 men who will form the official tournament squad is being deployed by all the sides.

This has allowed coaches to reward fringe players who have had impressive form in the latter part of their club season, and it gives them a chance to squeeze into that smaller group when the cut is made.

Here we run the rule over five such men who have caught the eye of the national selectors with strong showings in the season run–in and are now in with a shout of making it to the big show.

The Ones We Ruled out

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There are many names who haven't made the final five. Henry Slade has been talked about all season as an England candidate, never mind just at the end of the season.

So too, Ireland's Tommy O'Donnell, who announced himself during the Six Nations as another option in the well stocked back row ranks Joe Schmidt has to choose from.

Ospreys' Dan Baker poked his head above the parapet right from the first whistle of the campaign as a genuine threat to Wales No. 8 Taulupe Faletau.

And Scotland's Finn Russell has also been starring for Glasgow all year, underlining his quality with that wonderful pass off his left hand for the winning try in the Warriors' semi-final win over Ulster.

Nick Abendanon made as strong a case as he could for inclusion in England's squad but his employment by a French club precluded Stuart Lancaster from selecting him.

Then there is Christian Wade, who was overlooked for the 50-man Red Rose squad and promptly scored a hat-trick against the Barbarians. It still doesn't look like being enough to win the coaches over.

So, those well-known contenders aside, we have picked five who really did leave it until later in the season to outline their credentials.

1. Jamie George

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Saracens hooker Jamie George ran into form for Saracens’ late charge to the Premiership title.

He was not in the original 50-man squad chosen by England coach Stuart Lancaster, but after Dylan Hartley was thrown out for head-butting him, he was the man to take the Saints sinner’s place.

George underlined his credentials with an excellent display in the Premiership final, showing an impressive turn of pace to score his side’s second try.

2. Luke Cowan-Dickie

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Another England hooker who came on the radar in the latter part of the season is Exeter Chiefs’ Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Hartley’s expulsion has nudged him up the cab rank and his form has been better than Bath’s Rob Webber, who did not merit a starting place for Bath in the Premiership final.

The Guardian’s Rob Kitson was impressed by the Chiefs youngster when he featured for England against the Barbarians the following week. He wrote:

"England badly need a reliable set-piece hooker and the young Exeter man threw in well to the lineout. He looked good in the loose, too, for the 48 minutes he was on the field, straightening the line well for the Yarde try and off-loading the ball smartly in the first half."

3. John Barclay

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John Barclay has made his first Scotland squad for two years after Vern Cotter picked him in his provisional 46-man party for the World Cup.

This comes off the back of a string of impressive performances for the Scarlets in the Pro 12 that have brought him back into favour, according to the Scotsman’s Iain Morrison:

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He picked up the coaches’ Player of the Season award – it was not only unanimous but the flanker won it playing most of the campaign out of position at No.8.

For all his intelligence, Barclay doesn’t have the carrying heft required to play eight at international level, but he will challenge Blair Cowan for the No.7 shirt. Cowan is probably stronger over the ball than Barclay, who nevertheless is the better defender of the two.

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4. Ross Moriarty

Gloucester’s powerful young back-rower has muscled his way into the Welsh training squad with a strong second half of the season.

Moriarty's selection raised eyebrows in Wales given the omission of other back-row players based in the principality, as Simon Thomas wrote for walesonline.co.uk

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(Josh) Navidi and (James) Davies have had outstanding seasons for the Blues and Scarlets respectively and can both consider themselves seriously unlucky to miss out.

Moreover, Moriarty has up to now played his representative rugby for England, twice winning the Junior World Championship with their U20s.

But he obviously does have strong Welsh connections, with his father and uncle having both worn the three feathers, while he was schooled in Swansea.

And once it became clear that he would be willing to switch allegiance, it then came down to a pure rugby decision and those are the calls Gatland is paid to make.

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Moriarty has taken full advantage of the long-term layoff enforced on Cherry and Whites first choice No. 8 Ben Morgan because of a broken leg, with the versatile back-rower able to play as a blind-side flanker or No. 8.

He starred in their Challenge Cup final win over Edinburgh and made his final pitch for inclusion with a tremendous display in Gloucester’s ultimately doomed attempt to reach next season’s Champions Cup in their playoff defeat to Bordeaux-Begles.

His display caught the eye of former Gloucester star Phil Vickery, who told walesonline.co.uk’s Andy Howell:

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Young Ross was outstanding for Gloucester against Bordeaux-Begles in their play-off for next season’s Champions Cup, the best player on the pitch.

I’ve seen him play about 15 times this year and he hasn’t failed to impress. He’s got all his family’s attributes.

Ross is such a great athlete; he’s got size, power, speed, rugby nous and is prepared to take responsibility but the thing that I like the most about him is the size of his heart and his will to win.

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It would seem Warren Gatland was watching, too, and he may view Moriarty as a secret ball-carrying weapon that no international defence will have seen before, even if that is as an impact player off the bench.

5. Denis Buckley

Connacht loose-head Buckley has had a strong season for the west coast province in Ireland.

In particular, he caught the eye in the latter part of the season with an astonishing five turnovers in a game against Munster, which underlined his athleticism.

He faces a tall order to get into the Irish squad with Cian Healy and Mike McCarthy ahead of him, but if he gets the chance to prove that his mobility can add an impact off the bench in Ireland's warm-up games, he could convince Joe Schmidt of his value in the squad.