Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I’d get that if Sexton was 33 or something like that, not when he’s 36 and going to be 38 at the RWC.

we can plan for the future by at-least giving a second option good game time off the bench so they can learn the ropes and at the same time do what we can to prepare ourselves for the situation as best we can that Sexton may not be here in the near future.

Because the previous two were the most relevant, if I went through every one of them I would be here all day. What they all have in common and is the Irish performance was gutless which is understandable because we take no risks and while highlight the problems we make no effort to fix it, we much rather hope the issue fix itself and then just moan about it after the fact.

You don’t but we seem to as we refuse to play anyone other than Sexton, further proof of my point that we aren’t resourceful.

He was literally left out of the last squad!

What is wrong with you?

And you accuse me of not living in the real world

The crop below Sexton have never been afforded to opportunity to challenge Sexton, we all know this will blow up in our faces in 2 years yet we choose to continue down this path…only in Ireland…would rather be cowardice and safe.

Harry and Ben need to be given a proper run in the Jersey, the Irish coaches have already screwed up in the development of Ross and Joey so need to not screw up on this occasion. If you play Ben for example this autumn he needs to start atleast one of the games and either him or Joey needs 10-15 minutes off the bench versus the ABs and other match, not 2-3 minutes but 10-15. You need to challenge these players to see where they stand, not too much (like the brain dead idea of throwing Ross Byrne into malfunctioning Irish side against England in Twickenham, Sexton looked worse when in the same position in 2020 but that’s glossed over as always) but just enough, I can see Healy having impact against a Japan and Argentina, it’s where he stands right now and then if he comes through the next step is to see can he step up versus a 6N side.

also even if Sexton is the starting 10 the alternative idea needs to be altering the game plan so we aren’t reliant on one 10 being fit. If we know that we have a weakness in a position maybe the idea is don’t build you’re entire game plan around that position, if you are SA or Scotland you know then all you have to do is injury Sexton and the whole game plan is out the window. For me there is no excuses from an Irish perspective if that happens, that’s just poor planning from the coaches and nothing else.

Who would you start at 10? Put all your eggs in the Carbery basket when you know you can't rely on his fitness? Harry Byrne has the same issue.

You don't have to play a player to know they aren't a test level player. Carty, Ross have been around the squad for a long time. The manager sees them in training and knows what they give. Burns is around the squad now and is getting chances.

The reason for the chopping and changing is that none of these are good enough. Harry Byrne can't stay fit long enough to get a chance. So the only player who you could actually say to just throw in there is Healy.

Last year he couldn't get ahead of JJ in munster, this year there is a case to be made for him. Since the squad isn't even picked yet how about waiting to see if he makes it before complaining.

But the difference is it’s clear Healy and Byrne have parts of their game that Ireland are crying out for, we have a nice run of games this autumn where we could test these guys in so it would be smart and brave for us to do this. Why leave it to the last minute, one thing all 3 countries have in common is they bombed out at the QF/PS. I agree o the future planning but but right now we have a very serious issue to solve at 10 that we simply can’t leave unresolved until 2023, I’m okay with leaving other positions like for instance Second Row for longer as we know we are strong there and we can just leave the players fight amongst themselves for the shirt in the meantime.

It doesn’t help but we don’t even give ourselves a chance to fix the problems.

But again for essentially 1 game

We need to test our young players against decent opposition on a consistent basis, like against Argentina and Japan. 2 tier 1 nations in 3 weeks, perfect opportunity to give one of the options a run in the team, and in the 6N if Sexton starts 3/4 matches the alternative needs to be given 10-15 mins off the bench, not 2-3 mins. That way they learn how to chase a game or close out a game.

Comes down to who fits the game plan better, the issue is if Sexton’s hip injury ends his career (hopefully not ofcourse) we will have no choice but to put our eggs in one of the other 10’s basket. While we still have control on the situation it would be best to back a 10 and prepare them just in case Sexton doesn’t make 2023 or is bang out of form.

The reason I like Healy for the position is he has a mentality similar to Sexton, absolutely nothing phases him and no matter the level so far he’s played at nothing has phased him, even against Quin’s when they broke his ribs he kept going and did take a backwards step.

You wouldn’t be able to asses if a 10 was good enough or not in the time given to the options so far, someone like Ross needs a run in the shirt, not 2 starts in 16 months. I remember when he came into the Irish team in 2018 (I know it was only Italy and USA) but it was noticeable when he was on the field he really stabilized the ship and Ireland actually improved when he came in. The issue is we have completely stifled his development by not giving him a run in the team and as a result we now have to cross off another 10 on the list. I worry we will do the same with Harry and Ben, they need TIME in the shirt and need to be allowed fail and make errors so they can learn from them, not be compared to Sexton straight away.

Think that was down to Munster conservatism more than anything, it was clear Ben was the better 10 when he was on the field. No coincidence once an experienced 10 returned JJ was off.

Well it comes down to two options. Are we going to A. Do nothing or B. Do something when it comes to fixing the problem? I quite frankly don’t care what problems are highlighted, what matters is what the hell are we going to do about it? The situation we are in is a direct result of poor planning and succession plans and now it’s time to change the script if we have any common sense.

Well there is only 1 way we will ever find out if Healy or H.Byrne are up to it, and that’s by playing them. I’ve no doubt they can step up against Argentina and Japan as it is quite modest opposition as far as tier 1 nations go. The challenge after that is can they step up for the 6N?

We get it. So can this please stop now? We don’t need another several pages of the same thing.

Do people think that Andy Farrell is unaware of Sexton's age and injury profile?

No one would be happier for an alternative option to emerge at out-half but there just isn't one. You can give Ross Byrne or Jack Carty all the minutes in green you want, it won't make them good enough. They are deeply average players. I'd like to see a bit more of Burns but for now he's in that category too.

Carbery remains the only game in town. He's been pretty poor and a turnstile in defence but there's something there to work with at least.

Healy should not be in this conversation at all (yet). One game against a terrible Scarlets is no basis for anything. If putting rubbish Pro14 teams to the sword was a measure of anything, then Ross Byrne would have been the Lions out-half this summer.

I asked a direct question of who you'd back and you avoided it. You say that Healy doesnt take a step back and gave his rib break as an example. We have different memories as my memory is that his form fell off after that last year and he seemed a lot more hesitant in defence.

It wasn't clear that Healy was the better 10. It was neck and neck and then Healy broke his ribs and went backwards, and JJ played well against Clermont and kept his place. And we havent stifled anyone, we are currently discussing 7 players for one position, these 7 players get regular game time across only 4 teams, one of these players is a clear head and shoulders above the others and so gets the majority of the time in green.

Its a tough position to fill. Whoever takes over from Sexton will be a worse player. We will suffer if we drop sexton now and just play another player for the sake of it. Its easy to use France as an example of what happens but France were awful for years before they finally made the brave decision.

This approach leads us to the exact same failures of previous world cups. Going into important games with 10s who have barely played for Ireland. Its so short-sighted.