Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

It's very rare we score five tries without a few maul or pick and drive scores in the mix.

CMcsporty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004836#Comment_121004836

Why?

he packed down in the scrum after it happened

fingers crossed but it didn’t look severe

Wegians89

After the 6 nations thought Baird was nailed on for the World Cup. Starting to think he mightn’t be so certain to go now. Mccarthy is a better lock than him and Prendergast covers the whole back row. Will be interesting to see does Baird get a start against Samoa.

Think Henderson could also be getting a little nervous. McCarthy is coming for that 19 jersey.

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005224#Comment_121005224

I think Baird would be ahead of Prendergast, he's got a more athletic profile. His ability to range across the field and scrag guys is massive.

I do think McCarthy will be starting next to Ryan next season for Leinster, and be in serious contention for the TH lock spot for Ireland.

Wegians89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005259#Comment_121005259

Don’t get me wrong really rate Baird and thought he was class in the six nations. Just maybe 5-10% less certain he’ll be on the plane now.

Would Pom Baird Vdf Doris and Conan have enough balance? Suppose Doris and Pom could slot in at 7. But if one of Doris or Conan pick up a knock / Hia you could be exposed at 8?

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005291#Comment_121005291

Just set up for VdF to play yet another position

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005301#Comment_121005301

Not content with throwing into the lien outs, next he will insist he plays hooker too.

Interested Observer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005028#Comment_121005028

I don't really think that's the point, which is they weren't pick-and-go, bash the opposition to death on their own line tries which are very common for us. It was two forwards who set up the Aki try but it's almost immaterial who made the passes, it's a comment on the style of the tries.

inbloom427

Please stop. McCarthy has been great and rightly deserves his place on the plane but he isn’t taking Henderson’s position, in the starting XV or match-day team for any big game in the World Cup. Henderson was fantastic against Italy, best lock on the day.

Musicrules

Ah lads, the options are huge in so many positions. We could probably play our 3rd choice in a good few positions and still come close to winning the World Cup. There's obvious exceptions in some positions but the strength in depth is one of the reasons we're the best in the World.

sxt

Tadhgh Furlong and James Ryan being complete shadows of themselves has to be a concern. Two key positions and these guys used to be stand out players week in week out...There was a time when Furlong was a rampaging force of nature and the first person to be on a world 15. Hes simply not the same player anymore. A complete shadow

There was a 2 or 3 years when James Ryan was man of the match every other week, he was destined to be just as influential on a game as paul o Connell. A future lions Captain. He's never gotten back to anywhere near that level. He barely gets a mention on this thread anymore which speaks volumes

sydthebeat

I see race to be crowned the new "hyperbole king" is well and truly up and running

Buer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005771#Comment_121005771

James Ryan has had an exceptionally good season both for Leinster and Ireland.

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005771#Comment_121005771

The opposite of this is true when it comes to James Ryan. He had a dip in form after his break thru season; but he’s been exceptionally good in the last 12 months or so. He’s really upped his physicality.

salmocab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005792#Comment_121005792

I’m not sure that posters cares about reality

phog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005140#Comment_121005140

I suppose if we had Coombes on the field we'd have scored from the pick and go before the Hansen try 😁

I'm really not sure what point you're trying to make about the backs scoring our tries on Saturday, do you think it was the plan or that's just how it happened?

Sanjuro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005771#Comment_121005771

Have you been watching the wrong games this year? Ryan has been fantastic over the last 12 months. It's arguable that Leinster collapsed in on themselves in the CC final after he went off. He's been that influential.

Mr Disco

Sheehan and Kelleher are proving to be very brittle indeed

TheRestorationOfPeter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120991970#Comment_120991970

Whos Former Former Former? Munster mafia? Salty tears? Bullied??

What the hell is that all about child? And Kleyn?? Who cares?

It was obvious v England that he doesn't posses the power of Coombes. No way would Coombes get the ball stripped from him. Twice!!

Not. A. Chance.

Coombes should have been given at least a chance v England or Samoa.

We are playing SA. You must have impact from the bench. Prendergast is not it.

Interested Observer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121006079#Comment_121006079

Neither Prendergast nor Coombes would be in the plans to make the bench v SA. Our match day backrows are POM, VDF, Doris and Conan.

letsbefair

its gas the guys on here who think they are a better judge of a player than Andy Farrell or Paul O'Connell. They have no provincial bias, their sole aim is to get the best squad together to win the World Cup. They watch the players in minute detail and I for one think they get it right 99% of the time.

connachta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004673#Comment_121004673

Murray is constant..ly slow and far for the required level

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005908#Comment_121005908

It could be down to nothing more than England gifting us far too much space and time on the ball, its just very rare that we score that many tries and at least a couple aren't through the pack.

It should be huge concern for England that we ran in 5 tries like that, but I think Ireland deserves a lot of credit for the variation we showed, especially bringing the back 3 in as first receivers and play makers.

Overall despite a rusty performance I though the pack were dominant and then some at the breakdown, and the distribution and use of space by our backs (with plenty of link work from the forwards) was top notch.

That's as much as I'd have hoped for before KO.

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121006136#Comment_121006136

Disagree. Murray was excellent in the last 6 months of last season, including the 6 Nations.

There was a lot of worry at the time about JGP’s absence, but Murr showed there needn’t have been.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121006136#Comment_121006136

That was true for a while under JVG, Murray's gamestyle had gone stale and had not kept up with the increasing tempo of international and high level club rugby, but in the last 12 months, that has dramatically changed and Murray has shown now that he has adapted to the faster tempo without losing any of his other skills that led him to be the best scrum half in the world until Dupont burst onto the scene in 2019/2020

Obviously he made a bad pass in the England game (as did JGP on multiple occasions) but to say he's not at the level required is just not true.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121006122#Comment_121006122

Do you think Kilcoyne is the 3rd best Loosehead in Ireland in 2023?

TheRestorationOfPeter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121006097#Comment_121006097

Yes.

In the context of Conan injury either now or against Tonga. Prendergast comes onto the bench.

We saw on Saturday what Ireland are missing without Doris or Conan.

Buer

I find it very difficult to believe that anyone who actually watched the full 80 on Saturday could come away from it thinking Prendergast didn't further his case for inclusion unless they had a fairly prominent bias towards other players beforehand.

The bloke had a dodgy opening 5 minutes but went really well thereafter in all aspects of the game. And that's what the coaches will have wanted from him. He showed that he can play a variety of different ways. He carried hard, getting over the gain line. He showed nice hands and distribution with a couple of key passes leading up to the Hansen and Earls tries. He rucked like a madman. It's not often you see someone blow Itoje out of the way to get to the scrum half.

He certainly wasn't perfect but he's come away from that game with a net positive contribution comfortably.

If he is included, which is looking very likely, it probably means a 19/14 split....which opens the door for a big call in the backs in terms of leaving out a significant name. If we're going with the widely accepted 12 backs (6 half backs, the back 3 and the 3 preferred centres), that leaves us only with two spots. Everything would suggest that JOB and Earls would be those two last spots....but they're very similar in terms of what they cover for us and leaves us quite short in the centre.

TheRestorationOfPeter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121006229#Comment_121006229

I find it very difficult to believe that anyone who actually watched the full 80 on Saturday could come away from it thinking Prendergast didn't further his case for inclusion as Jordi Murphy II.

He got stripped for the second time closer to the 10 min mark btw.

He is a good player. He did ok. But he is not a power athlete like Coombes. There is no way Coombes is getting stripped of the ball.

Its game week against SA. Conan gets injured. Prendergast or Coombes. I'd go with the latter. That is all.

phog

What I find amusing is that some players get off with an error or two or even more while others get their errors called out as if it was the losing of the match. I agree with Buer here, it's probably down to a fairly prominent bias towards those players beforehand and every minute error is going to be over stated while others have their error dismissed and "otherwise" they having a good game.