NZ Tour 2022 - Māori June 29th, NZ July 2nd, NZ July 9th, Māori July 12th, NZ July 16th, KO 8.05am

cant see lowry or frawley being in the team if everyone possible is fit. the other two might have a better chance but id still think theyd be outside the 23. current back row options are doing two well, hansen might still be ahead of balacoune in the pecking order and farrell is a big fan of conway, could easily see RB being third choice for 14 if everyone is available

Could well be right of course. I hope Farrell will keep an element of competition in the team, and not just settle on a 23

Competition for the 23 is up to the players, not the coach.

The issue with moving on Forster is finding the cash to pay him and his staff off and then bringing in and financing a brand new staff when we are just coming out of covid when cash is tight and the RWC only being a year away.

A few thoughts on winners and losers from the Tour. Obviously the full list of winners is massive so this is an edited version.

Winners;

Sheehan - recovered from a ropey first test to be very good in the second and sensational in the third. Could well be the first choice come November.

Treadwell - limited time in the tests but looked very good in everything he did and put a bit of daylight between himself and the other locks.

Coombes & Timoney - impressed in both Maori games. Coombes could well claim the 20 jersey in November.

POM - in and out of the team under Farrell but very much in now

Hansen - nailed down the right wing IMO.

Frawley - thrown in at the deep end, he did OK under the circumstances in the first Maori game and looked much better in the second.

Michael Bent - nuff said.

Losers;

Baird - he's had a disrupted season but two second half appearances against the Maori is not how he would have seen this going

Prendergast - harsh maybe but didn't make a case in the same way Coombes or Timoney did.

Conan - Will struggle to keep the 20 jersey, let alone reclaim the 8

H Byrne, Hume - the poor baxtards

Aki - stay with me here. Henshaw and Ringrose were the first choice pairing, Aki was great from the bench in the second test and was very good in the third but... I doubt there's a Monday morning video review planned but a guy missing six tackles in one game would not be looking forward to it.

Larmour - given his form for Leinster and his display in the second Maori game, he'd have hoped to be in the 23 jersey yesterday. Doesn't look like Farrell is a fan.

Lowry - again, maybe harsh but just didn't make an impression

Aki played very, very well, don't get me wrong - just different players wanted different things from this tour. Aki's objective was to break up the Henshaw-Ringrose partnership and I don't think (personally) that he's done so.

I'm still ambivalent on Larmour. He has something no other player has, in his step and acceleration. But I just don't see him making either of the key passes (Hansen->Lowe, Lowe->Keenan) that beat a 3 on 2 for Keenan's try yesterday. His boot and aerial game might be a notch below what we need at international level. At 25, time is still on his side to some degree. But there's more than one area that needs improvement.

You can't overlook how well that back 3 worked as a unit too. I'd say Farrell will be loathe to give that up. Keenan's try was a perfect embodiment of that.

I know NZ produce work class wings every other week, but I wonder if they'd have any regrets at missing out on Lowe now.

There is as much possibility at the moment that Frawley will never see the irish 10 ever again, as there is in him being in the 22 shirt at the RWC 23.

I'd say the former is far more likely than the latter tbh.

Like, two things need to happen - Frawley needs game time for Leinster at 10 and Farrell has to lose faith in Carbery. I don't see either happening soon tbh.

Frawley's best shot is to get back into Ireland camp in November (I believe he will) and impress Farrell to the point where he says, I don't care what Leinster are doing, this is the guy.

I agree that Ngatai arriving is unrelated to who plays 10. We've lost ROL, COB, A Byrne and Hawkshaw for next season so regardless, we need cover in the three quarters.

Need a quality 3rd option for hooker. Hearing wobbly dart was a concern. And being user critical, the decision to break off the back of the maul when he scored the try was possibly not the right thing. Obviously user critical, he looks a solid player, good in the loose.