Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Buer

aloooof wrote: »

In terms of Ireland camp, I don’t think Shane Daly was bad 2nite, bit it felt like had one of his poorer games this season. Tho he was on the periphery at points as well, thru no fault of his own. He was always unlikely to get much game time, but I don’t think he’s advanced his case 2nite.

I feel that sums up a lot of Daly's performances though. He's incredibly solid and makes very few errors. He makes smart decisions and gets back to his support.

He's not someone that creates, makes breaks or scores a lot of tries. To be honest, if he was dropped entirely from the Irish squad, he couldn't have too many complaints. With Baloucoune coming back, the competition for places will ramp up and I'd expect Daly to be the fall guy, if there are any changes.

He has great versatility though which is a big asset. With DDA potentially leaving in 14 months and the lack of options coming through for Munster, it would be interesting to see him revert back to his original position in the centre.

leakyboots

Buer wrote: »

He has missed a chunk of rugby in recent times for personal reasons whatever they are. He has looked a shadow of the guy he was 12 months ago. Largely anonymous and making a couple of notable errors each game.

Maybe he's just completely lost form. Either way, guys like Wootton, DK and Haley all deserve calls into the Ireland squad ahead of him at this point.

Wouldn't agree with any of that. He's still making linebreaks and beating men like he used to. Had a slow start against Cardiff but really came alive in the end of the game. He had been out for months to be fair to him. He was lively with ball in hand last night, he didn't get a lot of it

Buer

leakyboots wrote: »

Wouldn't agree with any of that. He's still making linebreaks and beating men like he used to. Had a slow start against Cardiff but really came alive in the end of the game. He had been out for months to be fair to him. He was lively with ball in hand last night, he didn't get a lot of it

I assume you mean Edinburgh as he didn't play against Cardiff. He sparked one move late on against Edinburgh where he made a break moving infield near the end (think it was the one where he got a knock) to set up a ruck. It wasn't exactly an electric break. He was pretty anonymous for the first 70 minutes. Same story last night with no real impact on the game in attack for the most part.

His defensive read last night was poor. Yes, he slipped but he was coming in on Aki who was already lined up; he shouldn't be in that position to start with. He made a similarly very poor defensive effort against Quins which led to a try from memory when he came up and then fell off a straightforward tackle.

He was arguably the best back three player in Ireland last season. I don't know how anyone could disagree with the idea that he's nowhere near that level in his showings this season. If he was, he'd be in the Irish 23.

Interested Observer

Balacoune should be into the Ireland squad ASAP. Class act.

sebdavis

Interested Observer wrote: »

Balacoune should be into the Ireland squad ASAP. Class act.

He is just back from a long term injury.

Clegg

If we weren't so overrun with quality opensides I think Penny would be worth looking at. He's won two motm awards in a row playing at 8 which isn't his natural position.

He's just 21 so there's plenty of time to bring him into the squad as well.

thomond2006

sebdavis wrote: »

He is just back from a long term injury.

True, but he looked on fire tonight. Even if he doesn't play, he should be brought into camp.

I think he should play though.

Must love hardship

With VDF going off with a HIA there might be a training spot for penny in the squad this week.
Id agree re Rob Bal. I think he should be in camp this week. Maybe he hasn't much game time lately but neither daly or Conway looked impressive this weekend. Stockdale is also really gone off the boil. Hume and lowey looked like live options tonight.

Fredinho

Stockdale has to be back in next week

Lowe has been absolutely dire and doesn't deserve to be near the team

sydthebeat

Fredinho wrote: »

Stockdale has to be back in next week

Lowe has been absolutely dire and doesn't deserve to be near the team

He's not "dire" and 100% deserves to be in the squad.

But hey, shiny shiny....

arsebiscuits1

Dubinusa wrote: »

Just looked at the scores from the premiership. Some cliffhangers there. L.I scored 32 and lost by 1.
I also notice that McGinty is humming along nicely for Sale! Anyone think we lost out on the good 10. Would he have been in the conversation?

Not really to be honest.

McGinty was exclusively a 9 all the way up through school and never more than reasonably rated as a schoolboy.

He switched to 10 playing div 2 AIL for Blackrock rfc after not getting a look in at the sub academy for Leinster.

He got a hail mary to play for the US after an unlikely residency stint on college scholarship which was timed very well to coincide with a world cup and there being no other options for them at 10.

Full credit to him. He's carved out an unexpectedly good career. He's undeniably an exception rather than a rule though and even at his peak he never would have been more than 4th or 5th choice 10 for us.

He's definitely less an example of the system failing and more an example of the road less traveled working out when the circumstances are right

arsebiscuits1

Fredinho wrote: »

Stockdale has to be back in next week

Lowe has been absolutely dire and doesn't deserve to be near the team

Based on?

TRC10

Fredinho wrote: »

Stockdale has to be back in next week

Lowe has been absolutely dire and doesn't deserve to be near the team

Absence makes the heart beat faster.

Also, if Lowe's try v Italy had stood, I guarantee the narrative would be very different.

UAEguy2020

I would have him on the bench next week.

clsmooth

Fredinho wrote: »

Stockdale has to be back in next week

Lowe has been absolutely dire and doesn't deserve to be near the team

Stockdale was very quiet last night. Outshined by Baloucoune.

bilston

TRC10 wrote: »

Absence makes the heart beat faster.

Also, if Lowe's try v Italy had stood, I guarantee the narrative would be very different.

If Keenan's try against Italy in the Autumn when Stockdale beat about 8 Italian defenders the narrative about Stockdale's full back experience might be different.

bilston

clsmooth wrote: »

Stockdale was very quiet last night. Outshined by Baloucoune.

The right wing is a bit of a problem area for Ireland. Baloucoune could get a chance sooner than expected. If the summer tour goes ahead he could get a shot then. I say him into camp now. His two tries last night were outstanding. Serious finishes.

TRC10

bilston wrote: »

If Keenan's try against Italy in the Autumn when Stockdale beat about 8 Italian defenders the narrative about Stockdale's full back experience might be different.

No because Stockdale still has an absolute shocker in Paris.

My point was that Lowe actually played very well in Rome. And if he'd scored the try, more people would see that and there wouldn't be the calls to drop him

Fredinho

TRC10 wrote:

Also, if Lowe's try v Italy had stood, I guarantee the narrative would be very different.

But it didn't stand, his foot was in touch so it's a moot point

Fredinho

TRC10 wrote:

My point was that Lowe actually played very well in Rome. And if he'd scored the try, more people would see that and there wouldn't be the calls to drop him

Again he didn't score a try so it's irrelevant. Even if he had I'd be saying he should be dropped. Can't defend for toffee. Stockdale whilst not much better tackling is a superior finisher. Lowes level is pro 14 and European cup pools. No place at the business end of things or in the international arena.

TRC10

Fredinho wrote: »

But it didn't stand, his foot was in touch so it's a moot point

You're mixing up tries pal. I'm talking about the Italy one.

Also, name a winger that would have finished that chance v France. There isn't one, prime Lomu maybe.

TRC10

Fredinho wrote: »

Again he didn't score a try so it's irrelevant. Even if he had I'd be saying he should be dropped. Can't defend for toffee. Stockdale whilst not much better tackling is a superior finisher. Lowes level is pro 14 and European cup pools. No place at the business end of things or in the international arena.

Superior finisher? Stockdale? The guy who has scored 3 tries for Ulster since 2019. In the same period Lowe has scored 12. If Lowe's level is Pro14 then Stockdale is AIL.

topdecko

Stockdale off the boil for some time. No Way he is a full back and Farrell has to consign that experiment to the dustbin. He is still a capable winger but will remain defensively suspect i think. Don't forget he was red hot and played a big part in win over NZ. Form temp, class etc....

Lowe has been a mixed bag with some offensive flourishes but again numerous defensive positional errors and missed tackles at times.
Got to get the defensive set up right and introduce a counter attack to our game - at moment we simply receive ball and aimlessly punt it back or FB goes into contact and loses ball. No obvious counterattacking threat.

sebdavis

Fredinho wrote: »

Again he didn't score a try so it's irrelevant. Even if he had I'd be saying he should be dropped. Can't defend for toffee. Stockdale whilst not much better tackling is a superior finisher. Lowes level is pro 14 and European cup pools. No place at the business end of things or in the international arena.

Wasnt he going to play for NZ but he was injured. The NZ public are still a little sore he left.

Lowe is top quality, he hasn't even 10 international caps. Give the lad a chance

Irish fans are crying out to try new players, new player comes in and straight away they want them dumped out of the team. Confusing to me.

yerrahbah

Stockdale in, Daly out.

JvDF going through return to play protocols

https://www.irishrugby.ie/2021/03/08/jacob-stockdale-returns-to-ireland-squad-ahead-of-scotland-clash/

Daly was unlikely to feature vs England or Scotland anyway

thomond2006

Daly is better off at Munster, the last thing he needs is more weekends not playing.

Baloucoune should be there over Stockdale.

Interested Observer

He picked the wrong Ulster winger.

Tomtom364

Shane Daly.

13/14 Weeks in Ireland camp since October

Opponents
Italy - 2020 6 Nations
France - 2020 6 Nations
Wales - Autumn Nations Cup
England - Autumn Nations Cup
Georgia - Autumn Nations Cup
Scotland - Autumn Nations Cup
Wales - 2021 6 Nations
France - 2021 6 Nations
Italy - 2021 6 Nations

And Farrell gave him 17 minutes off the bench against Georgia.
I know every player wants to be in that squad but that must be very frustrating for him.

awec

I'm trying to think of a reason why you might select Stockdale over Balacoune and I'm struggling. Balacoune is the braver, smarter call.

Is Farrell so concerned about the next 2 games that he wants experienced heads where possible?

Tomtom364

awec wrote: »

I'm trying to think of a reason why you might select Stockdale over Balacoune and I'm struggling. Balacoune is the braver, smarter call.

Is Farrell so concerned about the next 2 games that he wants experienced heads where possible?

Stockdale straight back in at 15? :rolleyes: