Eamon O'Shea hoping a simple approach will bear fruit against Scots

By John Harrington

Ireland manager, Eamon O’Shea, hopes a simple approach will bear fruit against Scotland in tomorrow’s Shinty-Hurling International at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

He has a well-earned reputation for being a tactical innovator, but the small window of opportunity he’s had to prepare his players for the challenge has meant he’s cut his cloth to suit those circumstances.

“I’ve spoken to some players who have played it before and watched the games when they were here in Ennis," says O'Shea.

"It has been played for decades, so I’ve seen how the game works. I’ve also watched snippets of some of their local games.

“It’s about figuring things out in a very short time and keeping it simple, because this isn’t the time for complexity. You meet the players twice, so it’s about putting a few clips together and making sure everyone understands the basics of what they’ll face.

“One of the challenges is building a team quickly. it takes a long time to build a team at county level, but this has to happen quickly. You have to focus on different things when you’re trying to bring a team together in such a short time.

“I’m very happy with the 20 players and the seven or eight on standby, in terms of their engagement with the game and their enthusiasm.

“From my point of view, the last month has been great because it has rekindled my own engagement a little bit. We have a really strong spirit going into Saturday and let’s see what happens.”

Hurling and Shinty are similar enough to be able to come together for a compromise code, but it arguably requires considerably more adaption for the hurlers than Shinty players.

The imperative in hurling is to get the ball into your hand as quickly as possible and be careful with possession.

But in Shinty-Hurling the former isn’t allowed which makes the latter much more difficult.

“Yeah, that part of the job is interesting because it involves two different sports,” says O’Shea.

“It’s about trying to combine what we think will be our advantages and curb the advantages they have.

“It’s an interesting short-term challenge, given the nature of the game and the way our sport has evolved. Our game has become almost entirely about the ball in the hands, whereas this game is about having no hands on the ball.

“It’s an interesting challenge for the players and one of the reasons I was interested in taking on the project.

“The players are very adaptable and we’ll see on Saturday whether they manage to make that transition. Everybody is really enthusiastic.”

Tickets for the Shinty-Hurling/Camoge Internationals are available here.

Ireland Shinty-Hurling team: Billy Nolan (Waterford), Mikey Butler (Kilkenny), Ian Shanahan (Laois), Sam O'Farrell (Tipperary), Meehaul McGrath (Derry), Ryan Mullaney (Laois), Darragh Neary (Galway), Fiachra C-Fennell (Laois), Diarmuid Stritch (Clare), Aaron Dunphy (Laois), Andrew Ormonde (Tipperary), Cian O'Sullivan (Dublin), Luca McCusker (Fermanagh), Séamus Harnedy (Cork), Pearse Óg McCrickard (Down), Gerard Walsh (Antrim), Joe Murray (Leitrim), Patrick Turner (Derry), Kyle O'Connor (Kerry), Damien Healey (Meath).

Standby players: Seán Kelly (Derry), Johnny Maher (Longford), Ciaran McNally (Longford), Ethan Flynn (Monaghan), Evan Tully (Longford), Pádraig Doyle (Wicklow), Emmet Walsh (Monaghan), Kevin Goulding (Kerry).

Ireland Shinty-Camogie team: Amy Lee (Cork), Aimie Nolan (Carlow), Anais Curran (Wexford), Aoife McDonald (Tyrone), Ashling Thompson (Cork), Ava Fitzgerald (Cork), Dearbhla Magee (Antrim), Emma Murphy (Cork), Gráinne McDonald (Tyrone), Isobel Sheehan (Cork), Laura Hayes (Cork), Maeve Clince (Meath), Naoise Hughes (Armagh), Rachael Walsh (Waterford), Rebecca Kelly (Carlow), Saoirse McCarthy (Cork), Shannagh Hegarty (Antrim), Sinéad Wylde (Dublin), Sophie O’Callaghan (Limerick).