Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

did he? ive seen an article from last year where he says non, smith and jauzion were in the top 5 of toughest opponents hes faced but i see nothing about tuilagi

anyway, there was a time where he was up there with the top centres but hes too brittle (unfortuantely). leaving leicster after they stood by him through all his injuries isnt a good look for him too.

if the lions were playing tomorrow and it were between him and ringrose, id be picking GR all day. or henshaw. or johnathan davies. or henry slade.

chris farrell would be above him at this stage even to be honest

definitely unplayable at his best but you can kinda say that about most top level players - ringrose at his best is unplayable too but its how often theyre at their best is the question. with tuilagi that seems to not be too regular (same with GR up until recently too tbh) and it would very much appear most of his best days are well behind him now.

Lads where are we going thinking we can have an impact at world Cup when our basic scrum crumbles against the bigger teams, France, England, South Africa will unfortunately mince us next year, is it bigger locks we need or new scrum coaches, we are supposed to have a world class front row unit but our scrum seems to be always under pressure

Porter still has a year to get himself in gear. Healy though, won't be at the world cup, imo. He's got little gas left in the tank. Sexton is the biggest problem ! His age is worrisome and although he's been great this season, I think it's a bridge too far for him to continue his form.

After Sexton we are in trouble! There's nobody close to his level.

The scrum would do better when Porter learns to scrummage at loosehead. He's been a weak link for Leinster. I think he needs to put on some kilos. His overall game hasn't been as good since the switch.

I'm not sure if any lock would improve the scrum. Porter needs to improve his balance, bind and get comfortable. He looks low on confidence.

I believe it was the second game against Scotland when Ireland truly realised how far off the pace they were. The opening game v Eng was a shock to most but in hindsight - It was peak England & Tuilagi performance PLUS Sexton, Murray and Best were all rusty/on the way down for various reasons.

I wrote Sexton off as for the scrap-heap and to cut the cord after the WC. That's what's so remarkable this season is his resurrection. I believe he has never played as well. Can the form and body hold up for another 16 months? I think it unlikely and would rest him this summer.

He will go of course and i can see Ireland doing ok. Doubt they will win the 1st Test in Eden park but that's their best chance.

As for WC, Ireland are not getting past NZ/France even if The Messiah (Harry) arises and 'shoots fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse'

I'm confident that this team (Ireleinster) will not nose dive like the 2019 team but at the same time desperately hoping that Munster can defrag Carbery and Casey next season.

and Nathan Doak gets the 21 jersey

and Porter stays fit

and Furlong

and....

I know what 'fragging' is (or was), but 'defrag'?

Okay

deshag was the nontechnical term

I certainly hope the Irish squad dont have the same defeatist mindset you do for a QF.

Why do you always refer to Joe Schmidt as Smith?

If the aim is to have him in as good a place as possible come World Cup time would Wycherley be better off touring, or staying at home and hitting the "supplements"?

There's definitely a case to be made for including Warwick. Even if he didn't play much he'd make the scrum training higher quality. Ulster's scrum has been the best on the island this season.

Loughman has size on his side. He's been listed at 120 kilos in the past and is currently down as being 118kg. He's also got good handling ability.

Most of Ireland's best players are obviously with in the Leinster set-up. In league games they are far superior to most / all other sides, even without some /all of the front line starters. If rugby life is relatively easy for most of the 'stars,' is it possible the impact of the 'easy' success leads to tiny incremental decreases in performance at the very highest levels. It is human nature for most of us that if things aren't constantly challenging, we ease off. The front row was excellent and for no apparently discernable reason it has lost it's edge. Maybe losing to LAR will revitalise the team. I suspect that - injury aside - all the players from Saturday would be bursting to start the next match. Leinster of recent years have been ruthless but while their players are hugely talented perhaps they have lost the edge a bit. No real nasty bastards like Etsebeth, Fardy, et al.

With regard to Ireland's props, I find it a bit odd that Marty Moore isn't in the equation at all. He does the scrummaging a lot better than TOT and is very good in open play. He has very good passing skills indeed. Andy Warwick would be a most unlikely call-up but he has always been o.k.ish and has had a good season.

Or it could be a very good omen. "We expect your players to be with Ireland a bit, have a foreigner"

No scrum, no win unfortunately, we need to improve and henshaw and ringrose not creative enough I think, forget about Ross Byrne at this stage as an option, too many simple dropped balls last weekend that should not have been