Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Thats debatable but you’re a c*nt but that’s a story for a different time.

And what’s that I count, 2 games, 1 game and 1 game. How is any 10 meant to improve at this level with that little time on the pitch? It’s no wonder we find ourselves in this predicament.

also giving too many options a go is only slightly better than giving no one a go. We need to pick 3 10s and make sure that 3 get focused on so we are ready in case of injury. Giving 5 10s 2 caps each makes no sense, get Carbery and one other young 10 experience to ensure they are atleast ready to step up.

You could play R.Byrne, Burns, Carbery or Carty in every game from now until RWC 2023 and they still wouldn't be good enough. So there's no point in dropping our best out half for any of them. It's short term pain for long term pain.

Harry Byrne is always injured and Healy has had one good game. Thrusting either of them into the 10 jersey isn't a "calculated risk" it'a just plain stupid

What is it you want Farrell to do?

At least 2 of them have shown they can have an impact at the highest level of European Rugby so making claims about them when they haven’t been given the required amount of time to know weather they are up to it or not is the kind of thinking of a country that usually goes nowhere at World Cups. There is a point because continuing with a 10 who will be 38 at the next World Cup is a recipe for disaster. Time to fix the problem instead of whinging about it. It isn’t stupid because we are playing 2 test matches against opposition that will challenge us but are teams we should beat at home, it comes down to how the players fit the game plan. Call up Ben Healy as the third choice 10 and see how he gets on in camp, if things go well we have the two perfect games to try him out in. 

What’s your plan, persist with a 38 year old until it inevitably blows up in our face and then just make excuses in 2023 for why we didn’t attempt to fix an obvious problem?

I would agree with that if Irish teams even played moderately well in those QF's and they were just not good enough, but in every one of those QF's we look ill prepared, nervous and look almost as if we didnt know what the opposition was going to bring which is understandable because its quite clear for all the talk of the RWC we haven't prepared well enough for either QF we've been involved.

He should get a call up, for example you know Wales would call him up because they for example are another team with a pair of balls. We need to start prepare for other 10s to step in, for all we know Sexton could get a career ending injury next week, whats the plan then? We have to be ready.

We'll find out if one of the Irish 10s is good enough to beat the AB's in November.

True that the 1/4s have been Irelands level thus far, all excuses aside. But we are fairly evenly matched with Wales over time and their level seems to be semis when thing go well. Injuries did us in in 2015 but we still should have competed better against Argentina in the 1/4, we were just tactically out thought. And in 19 we were beaten before the kick off, the whole season leading in to it was a car crash, and that was all down to Joe having one game plan that stopped working. He had time (maybe) to adjust but didn't.

I think there is merit to just accepting that our options at ten beyond Sexton aren't great and are all fairly evenly bunched with no obvious candidate from 4 or 5. That's why the coaches job is tough, he has to make a choice when there isn't an obvious one that better than the others. It's a **** sandwich but that's his job, to prepare the team. Given the limitations a courageous and confident coach would decide to build a tactical framework around those limitations and ensure that the team could execute it to perfection. That would (hopefully) build the confidence of any mediocre ten and give them a punchers chance when it comes to the WC. Not using the time we have to do something like that suggests there's a vision problem and an inability to accept the situation and build on it.

They really haven't. Ross Byrne's limitations really hindered Leinster in the semi final last season. And if he needs to steer the ship this season, Leinster aren't getting a 5th star.

Carbery had a couple of good games against a poor Gloucester in the pool stage. That's not the highest level of European Rugby. He's been sh*te for the last 8 months.

Both of those guys have been poor when given a chance for Ireland.

My plan is to play the guy who is clearly our best 10. My plan isn't to play a guy who is clearly not good enough, just because he's younger.

If Sexton is still our best 10 in 2023 than he's our best 10. Not ideal by any means, but there's no point in playing a far worse player because he's younger.

There's only one person whinging here.

As of right now, the only solution is to hope a good enough alternative emerges. In the meantime, we may as well try to beat the All Blacks and win a 6 Nations by playing our best team

Yes and Sexton's limitations hindered us against Saracens in the Champions Cup quarter final the year earlier no, or is this more double standards? Also might forget that Ross Byrne the round before had a very good game versus Exeter, you know if Sexton put in the same performance we would never hear the end of it. He's been coming back from injury the last 8 months, maybe its up to the coaches to get the best out of their squad instead of relying on one player to be fit all the time. And I wonder why, maybe because none have been given a consistent run in the 10 shirt? Its exactly what I would expect from a new 10 with little game time at this level. You're plan will lead to us getting knocked out of the RWC early doors once again, anyone that doesn't see that clearly hasnt learnt their lesson from the last 2 World Cups. We arent playing a younger player based on the fact they will play like this in 2023, we are playing them now based on the fact that they will grow into the shirt and hopefully blossom over time. Right now the plan seems to be play them. give them a start or 2 and then bin them when they arent top class after two games, with that mindset its a surprise to noone that our other 10s aren't ready. A good enough option wont just "emerge", the 10 shirt is a position that takes time to come good in, expecting anyone to come in and overtake Sexton just like that doesn't know much about the position. And then what does that mean in 2023 if we are one week out from the RWC and 38 year old Sexton tears a calf muscle and is ruled out of the RWC? Whats the plan then? Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Ross Byrnes problem is that despite being a decade younger than Sexton, the former is still probably a better athlete. Byrne has tried very hard to play flatter and threaten the defensive line, but it just doesn't work out for him. Defences know that if they can drift off him because he doesn't have the speed to make that half break.

It's a shame because he has a pretty rounded game otherwise. He's a good passer and his kicking game is the best of all the Irish 10's available. He just has a glaring weakness that can never be resolved no matter how much effort he puts in.

I'd say you could make the same criticism of Dan Biggar. You'd pick Sexton every time if you had the choice but Biggar is not the quickest and tends to make a lot of metres off running good lines inside which maybe isn't so much of RB's game, but he is a guy who no-one thought too highly of and has turned into a top class ten without being the kind of running threat you seem to argue is essential. I'm not a huge fan of RB's predictability but a lot of successful ten's are more in the tactical than running vein. Think ROG as an example. I wouldn't underestimate the value of top class coaching and gameplans. Also, Sexton is not the sprinter he once was, I thought that lack of acceleration was obvious during a few of his games last year.

Oh and your plan of sacrificing results in the blind hope that Ross Byrne miraculously becomes a test level out half won't get us knocked out?

My plan is to play our best team. And if our best team gets knocked out, so be it.

Sexton at 38 will still be a better out half than Ross Byrne ever will be.

Jayyyyyyzus. Maybe if they offer Sexton the james bond role, we'll get to see other 10's.

We don't have anyone remotely close to Sexton. That's the problem.

Well yes, I want us to win the 6 Nations. Why is that a bad thing?

But it doesn't have to be one or the other. You can get results now and also future plan, which is what Andy Farrell is trying to do.

He's given every alternative a crack of the whip, and Carty will probably get one too.

But either they're good enough or their not. It's clear to anyone who watches the provinces that Burns, Carbery, Carty and Ross.B aren't test level 10s. What makes people think that putting them in a test jersey will make them test level 10s? It doesn't work like that.

Here's an example. Marcus Smith hasn't played a test match (the ones this summer v USA and Canada don't count). Ross Byrne has played 14 tests. Now tell me which one is the test level 10....

As Molloy said earlier, if you need to give a guy games in test matches to see if they're good enough, you're doing it wrong.

I'm genuinely curious as to what it is that people want Farrell to do. Because all I'm hearing is ranting and raving about how playing our best out half is going to blow up in our faces. What is it we should be doing?

I hope the IRFU pulled up trees to try to get Callum Sheedy over here (he was IQ) but unfortunately they didn't

The difference is we already know that backing a 38 year old 10 who is already inconsistent at the best of times will end in failure, whereas backing a young 10 with room for improvement we don’t know what might happen. That’s the big difference between RWC semi finalists and losers like ourselves.

Its funny how Ross Byrne has La Rochelle throw at him all the time but the same fans ignore when Sexton also **** the bed in the same boat just because he looked good against Zebre…

You don’t know that because you haven’t one at 38 or the other when he hasn’t been given a proper chance, you may live in the land of hyperbole but I live in the real world and I don’t make decisions based on emotion I make it based on facts and at this point the only fact I have is no 10 has been given the amount of time they require to challenge Sexton so making comparisons is pointless.

Wanting Ross Byrne to emulate Sexton is wanting you’re chair to be a table.

No one has been given a chance to challenge Sexton, that’s the problem.