Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Cracks me up when people talk about needing to drop first choice players, as though there's an army of test quality lads waiting to step up.

This tour could be the making of some lads. 3 high pressure tests in NZ after a long disjointed season. Certainly, there are some lads like Healy who are under pressure. Kelleher should be rested, he was probably brought back to soon and Sheehan is playing very well. I definitely see a case for Moore to travel! Bealham is adaptable? He can play loose head? Maybe Coombes gets a chance to start in one test at 8 with Beirne at 6? Or Doris at 8 with Baird at 6?

There's a good option for AF to experiment and mix things up a little. I'm really hoping that Ben Healy travels. In the long run he could be our 10.

personally i think baird has to nail down a squad place at least for leinster before being considered for ireland, bit too much hype without consistency

I love Prendergast, I'd definitely have him on the plane. I think he's good enough to start a test, although he probably won't. He could do a job at 6, 7 or 8.

He's a brilliant lineout jumper and he just gets through an insane amount of work. Carrying, jackling, he can do the running and he's a good footballer.

SEXTON IS STILL OUR BEST OUT-HALF. Anyone who gets disproportionately irritated by discussion about developing a plan B now, please take this opportunity to stop reading.

The issue for me is not even about Sexton, and whether he is deteriorating (though at his age, things can regress both suddenly and nonlinearly). He was in the form of his life until last weekend, and though a team found a way to put him under pressure, he was close to getting the job done before having to go off.

The issue for me, is what followed. A replacement 10 who let the opposition pressure (and probably occasion) completely break him. Or what happened the week before, when we saw Carbery have a shocker against Leinster's reserves (though missing key team-mates himself).

It's all well and good to say "Sexton is the best option by a distance", so we should keep playing him until he deteriorates and/or others catch up. But look at it the other way around. When are the other players in the team supposed to get used to playing their system in high pressure games WITHOUT Sexton? What subtle changes are needed when the 10 doesn't have his experience? What are the most pragmatic changes we can get away with against top opposition? If we continue to play Sexton more often than not in big games, we can't answer these questions.

Some things to consider:

• Harry or Ross Byrne get the remaining URC fixtures this season, and all next season
• Sexton starts max one test in NZ this summer
• Harry or Ross Byrne start all ERC matches next season
• Sexton starts max one test in the AIs
• Sexton starts max one or two games in the 6N next season
• Consider Sexton in a closer role in some/all games he doesn't start

tl:dr - in the coming 15 months, we need Sexton to play enough to stay sharp, but for the core players of the national side (i.e., Leinster) to otherwise tune themselves and their system to playing without him.

The line between 6 and 8 is becoming more blurred, I think. The skill sets for either position are pretty much identical, other than occasionally controlling the ball at the scrum.

Backrow balance is a tricky thing to define these days as 6/7/8 are sort of interchangeable. There'll always be a place in rugby for a nasty, grizzled blindside who just hurts people. Or an insane openside who sticks his head into the most dangerous of rucks to win a turnover. But most test quality backrows are strong in all facets of the game that you don't need to stick to predefined roles anymore.

Front five balance and strength is far more important these days. Ireland's recent improvement is built upon having that ultra athletic core of front rows and set piece sound second rows.

The front five of Porter/Kelleher/Furlong/Ryan and Henderson (Beirne if you prefer) is far better than the 2019 version which was dumped out of the World Cup. The starting backrow for that tournament was POM, VDF and Stander. They were criticised for not pulling their weight in the collisions, especially the 6 and 7. But playing behind a front 5 that was a mix of past their prime players or out of form players, made it very difficult for them to flourish. If you played that 2019 backrow behind the 2021/22 front 5 they'd fare far better.

I think the big issue is the mentality of our 10s rather than just the game management, it feels like none of them play with the sense of freedom you see from 10s from other countries, almost like they know the second they make a mistake the whole of Ireland will kick him up and down the field and throw him into the scrap heap with the other 10s gone before. We have enough good players that we really shouldn't be completely handicapped if a 10 that isnt Sexton plays, I mean the likes of Ross Byrne and Carbery have played big Champions Cup & URC/Pro14 games for years, they aren't exactly novices. Yes we will be a weaker team if one of them plays because Sexton is still a better 10 but it shouldn't be what makes and breaks us as a team.

I do think if a 10 is going to step up to the plate it will be a 10 that has the mentality to play the game that suits him regardless of what the media or public say about him and if I had to guess who that 10 is based on how they have played in recent seasons it would be Ben Healy. He just has that vibe about him that he wont let the pressure get to him, similar enough to Sexton himself when he was in his early 20s. Obviously he'll have afew bad days at the office but he wont be the first or last 10 to have those issues.

You know he’s injured?

He wasn’t available for selection last week.

ah I don’t know, lads like POM, Beirne, Murray, Conway have won absolutely nothing with Munster. You can’t play lads who don’t know how to win against a team like the all blacks.

at least Leinster are able to win the domestic league, even if it is a consolation prize to us.

Yes because none of those players have ever beaten New Zealand...

ill delete what I wrote here because poor old Jim has taken an L.

Leinster Rugby | Cullen issues injury update ahead of Champions Cup final no mention of that and he played the full 80 against munster. he just wasnt picked