Shane Horgan Hits Back At Joe Schmidt In Tommy Bowe Argument

Shane Horgan has hit back at Joe Schmidt over Tommy Bowe, insisting his comments weren’t far off the mark.

Joe Schmidt denied the suggestion from Horgan that the inclusion of winger Tommy Bowe is based on nostalgia rather than form. Horgan had hit out at Schmidt’s decision to include Bowe for the Scotland game and felt his former international team-mate made a “negative contribution”.

Shane hasn’t spent any time in our environment, he’s never seen Tommy train,” Schmidt said on Wednesday
“”I’m not sure whether, over the last three and a half-four years, how many nostalgic decisions I’ve made. But I can’t really remember many”
“I think it’s a typically external opinion that is purely opinion-based. We try to base our decision on how a player is performing. I’ve coached Shane and there’s probably been times when people have questioned my selecting him.

While Horgan agrees his view is an external one, but is not backing down on his original comments.

“Tommy hasn’t been playing that well. My comments were based around the Scotland game and they were not too far off the mark,” Horgan told RTÉ Sport.
“Joe has been seeing him up close and personal every day over the last couple of weeks and he’s right, my view is an external one.
“He’s decided to pick him for this game and we’ll see if he uses him how he goes.”

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