Joe Schmidt has made a bit of a statement today with six changes to the team that beat Samoa.

While many of the selection decisions for the Australia game were expected, some were not,

Among those intriguing choices is the decision to drop Conor Murray in favour of Leinster's Eoin Reddan.

But former Ireland head coach Eddie O'Sullivan believes Joe Schmidt is making shrewd choices in order to build a true squad for the 2015 World Cup.

"You're looking at three scrum halves - Conor Murray, Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss. None of the three of them are actually rookies. They're all very experienced players. In fact, Conor is the least experienced of them. So there's no real risk in picking one guy over the other. Eoin Reddan is a very experienced, top class international half-back, Isaac Boss has been round the block many times and Conor Murray has played for the Lions. There's no risk in moving around your half-backs. It keeps everyone on their toes."

Eoin Reddan ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

O'Sullivan also feels Devin Toner has transformed himself into a shoe-in for the starting XV.

"I think Toner is in there for two reasons. One, he's a banker in the line-out with his height and he understands the mechanics of the line-out. I was rated him as a set-piece player and I wondered whether he would be able to play out the field, but his work-rate and ball carrying were immense last week. I think he's pushed Mike McCarthy out and won that position. It now gives the team a chance of dismantling the Australian line-out because Paul O'Connell is a very shrewd operator as well."

Based on Ireland's good record against the Wallabies in Dublin, O'Sullivan is backing Ireland to win. 

He also touched on the promotion of Luke Marshall and why the versatile Robbie Henshaw was a great call for the bench.

Listen to the full interview via the podcast. 

©INPHO/Dan Sheridan