As the England internationals who gave up on the Republic of Ireland, Declan Rice and Jack Grealish should know better than to expect to be welcomed as returning heroes when they step out in Dublin on Saturday.
Time is no healer here. The perceived treachery is not easily forgotten when it comes to Rice, who made three appearances for Ireland in non-competitive fixtures before switching allegiance to England five years ago. “It went down like a lead balloon,” Mick McCarthy, the former Ireland manager, said in 2020. “I think he scored [in the under-21s] and I think he kissed the jersey.”
The optics could be better, not least because Rice’s first England call-up came a day after he was named Ireland’s young player of the year. Some will never look at him the same way. Rejection hurts. Rice, whose paternal grandparents are from Cork, would wonder if the past played a part in criticism of his performances at Euro 2024 from the former Ireland winger James McClean. “I’ve played with him, he’s entitled to his opinion and I’ve had to fight a load of those opinions from other people before,” Rice said before England’s 0-0 draw with Slovenia. “It might be a bit of bitterness towards me not playing for Ireland but I’ve not got a bad word to say about him.”
Turn the other cheek when England open their Nations League campaign against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium, then? Rice is focused on his football. The main priority is kickstarting England’s new era after the exit of Gareth Southgate and appointment of Lee Carsley – another former Ireland player – as interim head coach.
Ultimately there can be no doubt about the wisdom of choosing to walk away from Ireland given that Rice, who was born in Kingston upon Thames, did not take long to become one of England’s most important players. Although he was a little raw at first, particularly in a chastening defeat by the Netherlands in 2019, he soon adapted to international football and made himself a fixture in the XI thanks to the powerful stride and ball-winning abilities that convinced Arsenal to buy him from West Ham for £105m in 2023.
Fifty-eight caps on, there is no question about Rice’s value to England. Although limits to his poise on the ball were evident when England lost to Spain in the final of the Euros, he will surely remain a key player for Carsley. Much has been made of the interim coach wanting his teams to play with control but the enduring sense is that England will still need the security, leadership and physicality offered by Rice, who will be a leading candidate to take the captain’s armband when the time comes for Harry Kane to step down.
This does not feel like the moment for Carsley to be radical. The drastic move? That would be Carsley ditching Rice, who was rested when England beat Ireland 3-0 at an empty Wembley in November 2020, and going with his own man. Lille’s Angel Gomes, who is in the squad for the first time, is the kind of diminutive, deep-lying playmaker rarely produced by English football and was a key player for Carsley’s under-21 side.
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But the more pertinent question is still the one posed by Southgate before the Euros: Rice and who? Young players are coming up and Kobbie Mainoo made a strong claim for the third midfield spot in Germany, but the prospect of anyone displacing Rice looks slim. The 25-year-old will want to silence discussion around his failure to dictate games against elite teams, and move on from his red card in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brighton, but it is hard to envisage a scenario where England do not need him to liberate their creative players.
Grealish is a bigger issue. The Manchester City winger will be guaranteed a hot reception from a hostile crowd given that he turned down Ireland after playing for them at youth level, but being booed is nothing new to Grealish. Ever the showman, he is likely to feed off the abuse. The real motivation for the 28-year-old will surely be showing that Southgate was wrong not to take him to the Euros.
It was a ruthless call, one that caused surprise in the dressing room, although it was not exactly undeserved. Quite simply, Grealish’s standards dropped after City’s treble win in 2023. He was not as effective last season, struggled to stay fit and fell out of Pep Guardiola’s first XI. Southgate was entitled to decide others were more deserving.
Carsley has been quick to recall Grealish and will have been encouraged by the former Aston Villa man’s strong performance during City’s win at West Ham. He will have an opportunity to impress for England given that Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are missing.
The jeers should be no more than an inconvenience. Ireland will be desperate for revenge. Grealish and Rice will back themselves to drown out the noise.