Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Nigzcurran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703737#Comment_118703737

bullshit, you need new glasses

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703986#Comment_118703986

He’s not wrong about the knock ons. I’d be surprised if Doris isn’t the top of the handling errors stats in the 6N across all 6 teams.

Nigzcurran

He also looked class in the carry, broke through plenty of tackles and should be a nailed on starter for us at 6 or 8

Deusexmachina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703844#Comment_118703844

Totally agree. What’s this fixation with Carbery? He is average at best. Why not Ross Byrne? There’s a reason why he’s Leinster first choice back up for Sexton.

The improvement when Sexton came on was clear. This is an issue.

Serbian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703854#Comment_118703854

I think Casey largely deserves to be there — he's not the backup 9 at the moment, Murray is, he's third in line, and that's about right based on his form.

I think the most obvious area for Casey to work on is when to snipe. It worked out well for him as an under 20s international, but for a lad who is 70kgs, he tries to carry through forwards almost double his weight near the line when there's nothing on far too often for both Munster and Ireland for my liking. It kills all the momentum in the attack when hitting a forwards pod or shipping it wider is far more likely to be successful. You don't want to coach the instinct to go yourself out of a player because it's a great option to have, but making the decision on when the right time to use it is key.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703844#Comment_118703844

Carbery played well against France two weeks ago, of course he earned the start.

Clegg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704133#Comment_118704133

I realise this is a troll but I'll play it with a straight bat. POM was quite underwhelming today. Poor decision making and execution was rife amongst our starting 15. It's on these occasions that you need your more experienced players to settle things. But POM was just as guilty as anyone else for poor decision making.

He also wasn't as physically imposing as either of his backrow peers. We'll need as much grunt as we can against England. PoM has his uses in games against slightly weaker opposition and as an impact sub at the breakdown. But I think his days as a front liner are done.

Serbian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704040#Comment_118704040

Doris has 4 handling errors according to the official stats, 9th place total (joint with four other players). Gibson-Park is highest for us with 6, though scrum-halves are disproportionately at the top of this stat as they have the highest number of touches by far. Ignoring scrum halves, Doris would be 5th, behind Finn Russell, Ntamack, Biggar and Gilchrist.

Clegg

Ringrose and Henshaw didn't perform particularly well as a unit today. I thought the former showed some good touches at times. Two decent kicks in behind and nice footwork to make metres in attack. But Henshaw looked very rusty.

Was also a bit disappointed in Hume. The most notable thing he did in 30 minutes was knock the ball on.

Aki and Ringrose are the nailed on partnership for the England and Scotland games.

Stanley 1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704158#Comment_118704158

Doak is better option and he has the advantage of being a place kicker, Casey who is similar in size to DuPont is miles away from that benchmark.

TomsOnTheRoof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704156#Comment_118704156

Ross Byrne has also squandered opportunities. He suffers from the same problem as Carbery, he stands too deep. Carty at least can play flat. He might not be as good as Sexton but he's one of the few viable replacement options. Other than that they should be looking at Healy or maybe even Lowry.

Clegg

A minor positive is how assured Lowe was under the high ball. Italy definitely targeted him today, but I'm pretty sure he fielded all of them.

OldRio

Thank God I didn't pay money to watch that. I understand the law but after this 'performance' it needs amending.

Some senior players need an honest look at their contribution today. If POM can't do a Captains role against 13 Italians, well?

Other 'heir apparants' were dreadful. We need to move on from Carbery. The sooner the better.

The penalty count was a serious concern. England like Italy will kick those for points not field position.

Hopefully this was a hiccup. Ireland are much better than that.

TomsOnTheRoof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704202#Comment_118704202

O'Mahony made more metres than VDF. He was good in the air and on the ground. He's also been in excellent form of late so whilst the suggestion might have been made to illicit a response it's not completely outlandish. Doris has only been OK so far this tournament. He is a very good player but his handling is becoming an issue. No reason he should be a locked on starter.

O'Mahony was grand today. I didn't see any evidence of poor decision making from him to be honest. He's not responsible for the mistakes of those around him. The backline not functioning was down to Carbery and the midfield, not our captain for the day. The same goes for our tight five not securing the rucks.

stephen_n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704337#Comment_118704337

They were carrying in completely different areas of the pitch. So the meters made stat is completely irrelevant. I suspect you are aware of that though.

Clegg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704337#Comment_118704337

According to the official 6N stats VDF made more metres than POM. The latter also made a fair few of those on the wing too.

As for poor decision making, he threw a few offloads in contact which went to ground and disrupted attacks. Again, he wasn't the only player to do so. But he did nothing to advance a claim that he should start against England.

He was thoroughly average. But so were many of his teammates. The only player to really copperfasten his starting position was VDF.

https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/report/lowry-with-debut-double-as-ireland-down-italy/#match-stats

phily2002

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704388#Comment_118704388

VDF also made a clean break and beat defenders, POM didn't, POM also had the lowest tackles out of the starting forwards and 5 of them were subbed off.

I don't think he played badly but he was the weakest out of our backrow. Coombes, JOD, Deegan, Penny, Timoney. There's a long list of back rows that would do a better job in the wide channels.

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704195#Comment_118704195

Would disagree on that, thought he was fairly average myself.

TomsOnTheRoof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704388#Comment_118704388

I got my stats from ESPN. If they're wrong that's fair enough. He made one pass to Baird which an Italian got a hand on. One thing O'Mahony has going for him is that he has a great pair of hands.

As for him being average enough I don't dispute that. He wasn't fantastic and he wasn't poor. However he has be in fantastic form this season. Furthermore his captaincy was fine. The only reason it's being mentioned is in light of the criticism that Ryan has come in for recently. Whilst I don't think he will start for the English game I also don't believe the suggestion is as outlandish as some here believe. Doris hasn't been playing out of his skin recently and his handling issue is becoming noticeable.

Clegg

With respect I wasn't talking about POMs decision making as a captain. He was as guilty as anyone else in making poor in the moment decisions though.

I just think we needed a senior player out there to calm things down on the pitch but he didn't do it. But neither did Henshaw or Ringrose or whomever so POM isn't entirely to blame. It took Sexton coming on for us to actually shift our plan slightly.

POMs game in open play just wasn't effective enough for him to displace either Doris or Sexton for the English game.

OldRio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704551#Comment_118704551

So the Stats you based your opinion on were incorrect. Grand.

TomsOnTheRoof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704737#Comment_118704737

Firstly, there's absolutely no reason to be rude. It's this kind of smug nonsense that has turned this place into a graveyard. Secondly, for all we know neither set is correct. They clearly use different means for measuring performances.

TomsOnTheRoof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704701#Comment_118704701

Apologies. I wrongly assumed you were talking about his performance as a captain. As for his performance, I agree with you that he won't shift Doris for the English game. I was just pointing out that it's not inconceivable.

OldRio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704871#Comment_118704871

I'm not being rude. You have based your views on unofficial figures.

Therefore blaming me for being rude for your ignorance is obviously wrong surely you must agree.

techdiver

Just on the way back from the game. Probably the worst game I've witnessed in the Aviva/Lansdowne. Sloppy, unprofessional, lacking intensity.

Really need improving before Twickenham or it'll be a very mediocre tournament considering the expectations coming in.

Front row relatively quiet today, Sheehan had a good game though.

Baird still not near the complete article for me, would like to have seen Sexton putting him through a few gaps however.

VDF and Doris very destructive as was Conan when he came on. Thought POM didn't have a huge amount to do but didn't make any notable mistakes and the line out / defensive line out functioned.

JGP added a nice bit of spark. Thought Carbery did nothing for us and didn't stretch a heavily diminished Italy whatsoever.

Midfield went fine, Lowe the best performance from the back three but Lowry also got some nice touches.

Bench went well, Bealham has a nice bit of menace to his game these days.

All told a very poor game, not befitting of a great competition.

Dubinusa

Awful viewing. Didn't help us whatsoever! We were at 6's and 7's for periods. Very poor all around.

Doris was ok? Handling errors are concerning.

Porter Didn't to scrummage!

Carberry was disappointing. Very poor.

Garbage game. We looked amateur at times!

lawred2

Glad I didn't pay for those tickets. That was dire.

lawred2

Lowry and Craig Casey's cameo were a positive at least

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118704195#Comment_118704195

He place kicked well against France but I have to admit to being unsure what it was that was so great about the rest of his game.