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28th May 2019
02:52pm BST

Sitting in the press seats at the Aviva Stadium (Ulster vs. Leinster, Champions Cup) and Kingspan Stadium (Ulster vs. Connacht, PRO14), it was hard not to marvel at the sheer destructive power of McCloskey in full flow.
Looking at the Ulster centre smashing through defensive lines, offloading under extreme duress and tackling lads into next week made you wonder just what McCloskey could do if Schmidt made him a primary focus. As it turns out, Schmidt has only capped him three times in three years.
Ahead of the squad announcement, Andrew Trimble praised McCloskey but had his doubts that he would get the shout from Schmidt.
"McCloskey has been brilliant for ages. He hasn't got any more brilliant. That's the thing. And the one area, well back row and centre are the two areas where being brilliant might not just be enough. Hopefully it is because he's probably Ulster's most important player. He is the guy that gets gainlines."Ulster Players' Player of the Year but unable to force his way past Munster's Chris Farrell for that fourth centre spot (with Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw locking down the other three).
12 Test appearances for Ireland, including four in the most recent Six Nations, but surplus to requirements... this time.
It is worth noting that Roux was not in the initial Six Nations squad but injuries to Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson saw him drafted in and he started the wins over Scotland and Italy. The inclusion of Kleyn ultimately cost him a place in the extended squad.
Many expected O'Donoghue to make the squad after Dan Leavy and Sean O'Brien were ruled out through injury. Missed most of the season as he recovered from knee surgery but returned in late February to play six times over the closing months.
Was excellent in the Champions Cup quarter final against Edinburgh and battled manfully against a fierce Saracens team in the semis. Only 25 but already has 100 Munster appearances, despite missing the guts of a year after his knee injury.
That last back row slot was expected to be a shoot-out between O'Donoghue and Leinster's Max Deegan but, instead, it with to Munster openside Tommy O'Donnell.
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