Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

leakyboots

Would echo thoughts that it was a mixed tournament for us. The English performance has me optimistic for the future, I hope that continues. It was a good note to sign off on.

The positives:

Lineout - POC, hats off. Instant improvement, we were a menace on other team's ball.
Sexton - reborn. Long may he run! He raged against the light brilliantly, was great to watch.
Beirne - proved doubters wrong that he was capable at this level, himself, Henshaw and Henderson our players of the tournament.
The Return of the Jukebox - Porter is good, very good in fact, but I think we see that bit extra when Furlong is on the pitch - what a player.
Earls - super tournament, arguably our greatest ever finisher. The disallowed try and the way he stitched up Johnny May with his footwork was top class. No slouch in defensive terms with six dominant tackles, second highest in the tournament and the only back in the top ten. I think many are prematurely writing him off because of age, he's still got his gas and is a very canny defender, we might get another while out of him yet.
Connors put his hand up majorly, I prefer him to JvdF
Keenan - excellent tournament, it's such a relief to finally have an attacking 15 having not had it for many years. The jersey is his until someone takes it off him, just does the basics well to a high standard. I'd love to see the likes of Haley (great under high ball, exciting attacker but I'd question his consistency) or Lowry (I love this guy, if Kolbe can do it so can he) get a shot in the summer to see what other new options we can develop.
Second Row - we've three great high quality operators in Henderson/Ryan/Beirne. All three would go on a Lions tour if picked in the morning
Backrow - plenty of competition here. CJ will be a huge loss - many seem to think Doris will transition things flawlessly and he has looked the business so far but he has a long way to go to build up a body of work like CJ. Conan did well the last day, will be interesting to see will he get a run and can he do it consistently. Beirne is now an option along with POM at 6. Coombes, Penny, Boyle and a lot of other young lads putting their hands up. I think we'll see different combinations rather than a set in stone trio.

Negative
Calamity James as someone referred to him as. Many on here had high hopes and it didn't work out. Left wing is an open jersey at the moment
Backplay - still many doubts on it, the jury is still out on Catt but I guess we'll wait and see
LH - Healy looks to be on his last legs and poor Killer just can't stay injury-free long enough to stake a decent claim. Need some young challengers to the throne quick
OH - if Sexton's decline happens it'll happen quick, I hope the likes of Carberry are fit and maybe the likes of Harry Byrne/Healy/whoever get some gametime to see if they're up to it. Ross Byrne isn't the answer and poor Billy Burns doesn't look like he'll get another shot any time soon

CJ leaving One of our greats. Delighted he got to go out on a high and you could see how much it meant to him.

Burkie1203

leakyboots wrote: »

Beirne - proved doubters wrong that he was capable at this level



Backrow - plenty of competition here. CJ will be a huge loss - many seem to think Doris will transition things flawlessly and he has looked the business so far but he has a long way to go to build up a body of work like CJ.

.

Beirne proved nobody wrong. He delivered performances at this level for the first time consistently. He had previously put in some fairly anonymous displays.



Doris or Conan etc does not have to build up a body of work like anyone else. They are different players and like any other player retiring, things move on in Pro sport.

ersatz

TRC10 wrote: »

It seems to have gone under the radar a bit, but Henshaw has been absolutely outstanding for the last year now. Ever since he came in for Ringrose for the Wales game last year. He was brilliant in that game, then our best player v England the week after.

There's a strong argument that 13 is his best position, which is probably not something people want to focus on given how good GR is there. But a lot of Henshaw fans were disappointed when he was moved to 12 originally for that reason.

Wegians89

ersatz wrote: »

There's a strong argument that 13 is his best position, which is probably not something people want to focus on given how good GR is there. But a lot of Henshaw fans were disappointed when he was moved to 12 originally for that reason.

Early days at Connacht, he looked great at 15 too. Think he is best at 13. Think he’s found his ideal body composition now though and would fancy a 12-Farrell 13- Henshaw lions partnership.

Jump_In_Jack

Wegians89 wrote: »

Early days at Connacht, he looked great at 15 too. Think he is best at 13. Think he’s found his ideal body composition now though and would fancy a 12-Farrell 13- Henshaw lions partnership.

Misread that first as a 12-Farrell 13-Henshaw Ireland centre partnership, and it actually is intriguing, Chris Farrell inside Henshaw would be an interesting experiment!

OldRio

I enjoyed this.

https://twitter.com/StephenFerris6/status/1375439828045684740?s=20

TRC10

ersatz wrote: »

There's a strong argument that 13 is his best position, which is probably not something people want to focus on given how good GR is there. But a lot of Henshaw fans were disappointed when he was moved to 12 originally for that reason.

Yes I do think he's a better 13 than a 12. That's not to say he's not a good 12, he's a brilliant 12 and he'd start at 12 for most teams. But I do think Ringorse is a better 13.

I'd still like to see him back at 15. People will think back to that England game and immediately write it off, but he was carrying far too much weight to be able to cover the ground well enough to play 15. He was also playing against the team with the best pressure kicking game in the world. The weight he's at now, I'd say he could definitely play 15.

Anyway, I don't think it will happen.

Bridge93

Henshaw at 12 currently gets more of our best players on the pitch than Henshaw at 13 or 15. If that changes so be it he may move. I do think it's unlikely we see him at 15 though

ScissorPaperRock

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Beirne proved nobody wrong. He delivered performances at this level for the first time consistently. He had previously put in some fairly anonymous displays.



Doris or Conan etc does not have to build up a body of work like anyone else. They are different players and like any other player retiring, things move on in Pro sport.

A lot of people felt Beirne didn't have the size for international 2nd row, especially against a larger power-oriented team like England. So, arguably, yes he did prove some people wrong.

irishbucsfan

ScissorPaperRock wrote: »

A lot of people felt Beirne didn't have the size for international 2nd row, especially against a larger power-oriented team like England. So, arguably, yes he did prove some people wrong.

People have been questioning his size since he was an under-20

And by people, I mean me

The Inbetween is mine

irishbucsfan wrote: »

People have been questioning his size since he was an under-20

And by people, I mean me

You have way, way, waayyyyy too much time on your hands IBF

Interested Observer

I didn't think Beirne had that level of performance in him tbh, thought his ceiling was Euro level and was missing the extra few % power for international. Obviously I was wrong, himself and Henshaw were our best players by a mile, but I also think the 6N gone is the highest level of performance he's hit in his career.

Tigerandahalf

Beirne could play 7 too. He has all the attributes to play there. He has speed, an engine, can turn over ball and has great hands to link the play. There probably isn't much difference between a 6 or 7 these days. More important to have a balance in the back row.

I think Coombes looks an option at 8 going forward and Beirne has to play somewhere there. Then you have a fight out between Doris, Leavy, JVdF and Connors for the other position. Then younger options like Penney, Hodnett and McCann.

ionadnapokot

Does Richie Murphy's promotion mean Ireland will get a new skills coach?
https://www.irishrugby.ie/2021/03/29/richie-murphy-appointed-ireland-under-20-head-coach/

Dave Ellis would be nice one to get.

Thrashssacre

So the plan for summer is still most likely a tour of the Pacific island with 3 matches against Fiji or two with a game against Tonga. I think this is the perfect tour in a lion's year to blood in a few names, Lowry, Combes, balacoune,Boyle, Baird, Thornbury, carbery, Casey, penny can hopefully all pick up some more Ireland minuites mixed in with a few more experienced heads.

bilston

Thrashssacre wrote: »

So the plan for summer is still most likely a tour of the Pacific island with 3 matches against Fiji or two with a game against Tonga. I think this is the perfect tour in a lion's year to blood in a few names, Lowry, Combes, balacoune,Boyle, Baird, Thornbury, carbery, Casey, penny can hopefully all pick up some more Ireland minuites mixed in with a few more experienced heads.

I'd be really surprised if it happens. I hope it does, but I just can't see it.

Maybe if it is cancelled we could get Georgia or Romania or someone over for a couple of matches. We might even get some fans through the turnstiles by the end of June. Its certainly possible in Belfast. Although we'll probably be too busy up here throwing stuff at each other to worry about the Rugger.

Paul Smeenus

bilston wrote: »

I'd be really surprised if it happens. I hope it does, but I just can't see it.

Maybe if it is cancelled we could get Georgia or Romania or someone over for a couple of matches. We might even get some fans through the turnstiles by the end of June. Its certainly possible in Belfast. Although we'll probably be too busy up here throwing stuff at each other to worry about the Rugger.

It would have to be some kind of Ireland select - they can't play internationals in Belfast because of sponsorship.

theVersatile

Do Scotland have a Summer tour planned? A few on here would've been fairly peeved if Farrell went touring, so I'm intrigued whether boards.sc feels the same way or whether a lack of Summer tour makes Townshend available.

errlloyd

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

It would have to be some kind of Ireland select - they can't play internationals in Belfast because of sponsorship.

Just play it as a Neutral venue, like we did with Chicago Field.

"We're away, we're not even in the EU anymore"

Former Former Former

theVersatile wrote: »

Do Scotland have a Summer tour planned? A few on here would've been fairly peeved if Farrell went touring, so I'm intrigued whether boards.sc feels the same way or whether a lack of Summer tour makes Townshend available.

I doubt anyone really cares what Scotland do?

theVersatile

Former Former Former wrote: »

I doubt anyone really cares what Scotland do?

I meant Scotland fans.

Podge_irl

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

It would have to be some kind of Ireland select - they can't play internationals in Belfast because of sponsorship.

That was the Aviva sponsorship I think, but considering these are supposed to be touring games I am sure they could get around that.

Must love hardship

Podge_irl wrote: »

That was the Aviva sponsorship I think, but considering these are supposed to be touring games I am sure they could get around that.

Could we play a 3 test summer series against Wales Scotland Romania/Georgia

I know not that exciting. But it could be a potential back up option? Or what other alternatives are out there.

Might even get some fans into the UK stadiums.

Teams would be missing players with the lions. So should be competitive v Romania/Georgia

Will be difficult to play in Pacific Islands this summer. Similarly will be difficult for Wales to travel to Argentina.

England are off to North America.
Italy are playing in New Zealand.
France are off to Australia.

eagle eye

A tournament in Florida including the US and Canada might be a good idea. You can have fans over there so it'd be a good advertisement for Rugby in the US.

Must love hardship

eagle eye wrote: »

A tournament in Florida including the US and Canada might be a good idea. You can have fans over there so it'd be a good advertisement for Rugby in the US.

July in Flordia might not suit POC. Would be like steve staunton at USA 94 all over again.

theVersatile

Do we reckon Zebo tours the Islands this Summer?

yerrahbah

It begins

Buer

theVersatile wrote: »

Do we reckon Zebo tours the Islands this Summer?

I think there's a pretty solid chance. Greece has already recommenced some tourist activities in Rhodes and it's surely not long before Crete and Corfu follow suit.

P.Walnuts

This could really be an excellent time to unfollow this thread for a few weeks

salmocab

P.Walnuts wrote: »

This could really be an excellent time to unfollow this thread for a few weeks

Or to stir sh1t