Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Ryan didn't go on the Lions.

Henderson went but hardly featured.

Beirne went exclusively and only as a flanker.

The Lions is utterly irrelevant.

7/10 is alright but we're talking about the guy who is virtually undroppable for Ireland and Beirne is playing better but can't get ahead of a guy playing 7/10.

Ryan is early in his career but his reputation is better than his performance level at this stage.

He might get an injury free run and become a top player and maybe even a world class second row, but he's not near world class on recent performance.

Yeah, you're absolutely right that there's a logjam at centre and Hume is probably 3rd choice 13 right now. But he's in good form and I like seeing that rewarded. The Italy game is probably the best game for that. Same with Baloucoune and Baird. Would love to see them start.

Although, I don't know if that will actually happen either. We generally make a few changes for that fixture, but we treat it seriously as the 6N deserves. Might see 3 or 4 new players, but the core of the side to remain.

I agree that Hansen has work to do in defence. But so did Lowe and now he appears to have improved on that. Maybe he won't get a start in the upcoming tournament, but 30 mins during a game is doable.

He saves kittens from trees on a regular basis too. I’ve begun printing Beirne for President t-shirts. How many should I put you down for?

The way Ryan is picked every time, without reference to his level of performance, you'd think he rescues the kittens.

Ryan rescues puppies. And puppies trump kittens.

I think people look for the wrong things when it comes to Ryan.

People don't see him making game changing turnovers like Beirne or massive carries like Henderson.

But Ryan runs our lineout, steals lots of opposition ball and gets through an absolute mountain of work. For example, against NZ, only Conan carried more ball, and only Doris made more tackles. He also stole 2 NZ lineouts. That stuff doesn't make highlight reels, but it adds up.

He carried 14 times for 21 metres, which is impressive considering the crowded channels he carries in. Henderson only carried 9 times for 6 metres.

People were delighted to see Ireland play at such a high tempo in November. But watch the NZ game and see how much of our fast ball was down to Ryan's clearouts.

Also, Henderson has been pretty injury prone of late which seems to go under the radar and hasn't exactly set the world alight when he's played.

Right now on form, it would have to be Beirne and Ryan.

I'm not saying he's a better rugby player than Hendy or Beirne, but when it comes to selection it's important to have a balance. The same way you wouldn't pick 3 massive ball carriers in the back row.

Wasn’t MOK’s point that he’d have Henderson as his number one lock at the moment as Ryan has been out with injury since he was taken off against Argentina? I like MOK but I’m not sure he did a huge amount of research for the chat.

Henderson hasn’t really featured since the AI either due to injury. Henderson was actually pulled out of the Argentina game at the last minute. He also came off injured against Northampton last month and hasn’t played since. Ryan was due to start in Montpellier but obviously didn’t have the opportunity to play. Lazy radio journalism.

Ryan doesn't run the lineout. Henderson calls it. (Although there is an emphasis on Ryan having free reign to disrupt at defensive lineouts.)

There's been a few articles in the likes of the 42 referencing the fact that Hendo's th primary lineout caller.

I might quibble with you about who's best, but there's three excellent second rows there. I might be disappointed about whether or not my favourite is starting, but I would certainly never be worried about the actual game as long as we've two of the three.

Fair enough that's a decent argument. I think the stats on meters gained can be very misleading -but I could be misremembering. I remember him carrying a lot and not making any ground most times. Did he make the bulk of his 21m in one or 2 carries? It's good that he makes himself available to carry, but I don't see him as a good ball carrier. He made a few meters with each carry when he burst onto the scene, but now I think he seems to be hit on the gainline most of the time and falls on the gainline.

I'll pay closer attention to his ball carrying and the results of it tomorrow. I'll also look for the quick ruck clearouts. To be fair, those sre the things you miss if unsure looking at the shape the rest of the team is forming.

If its about balance, then why would you pick Henderson and Ryan? Aren't they both closer to 5s? If you want balance, wouldn't you go with the better of Ryan and Henderson alongside Beirne? But we never go for Beirne unless forced to do it. And I think he's been the best of the 3 for a while now, but he is the easiest to leave out of the team.

And I think he's been the best of the 3 for a while now, but he is the easiest to leave out of the team.

I'm not sure I get this? If he's the best, wouldn't he be the hardest to leave out? Like, in what other position are we not picking the best guy?

Tbh what Beirne needs to do is decide if he's a second row or a blindside and stick with it. He's falling between two stools at the moment IMO.

He's not in a position to say that to Farrell but he absolutely is in a position to tell Munster what his preference is.

Versatility is great unless it's holding you back from nailing down a jersey of your own. Beirne is first choice for Ireland in neither position so unless he's happy with the 20 jersey, he might want to think about it.

It absolutely is great for Ireland, just maybe not for Beirne personally.