Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

if it were far away then yes, since its in france not as much. like i said it depends on how much time at 10 frawley gets between now and then, but if we take the hypothetical of both JC and JS getting injured and frawley gets minimal exposure at 10 for leinster, i much prefer they bring an actual 10 in from outside the squad than shoehorn someone in who it isnt their regular position. now, that is also taking for granted that this 3rd 10 option (harry byrne/ ben healy/ billy burns/ whoever) would have been involved in the training squads pre rwc and could fit into the system as easily as possible.

different story if the RWC was going to be somewhere that involved long travel like NZ or Japan. the close proximity to home means versatility is less important imo

I strongly suspect that there will be 3 outhalves in the Irish squad.

The third may be there purely so Sexton doesn't need to put any minutes in on the Romania game. A sad reality of having a 38 year old first choice outhalf.

At any rate it is a 33 man squad compared to 31 at the last World Cup so there is some extra flexibility there.

Regarding centre Aki, Ringrose and Henshaw are imo the top 3 centres in Ireland. I don't think there is necessarily a top pair. Injuries and form can separate them.

I suppose so. It's not as pronounced as it was last season anyway, when they also had Gallagher and Flannery.

I was interested to see Zebo back at 15 for the warm up games. Maybe Prendergast's influence will see him revert mostly to playing there. I think he played mostly 15 for Racing under Prendergast when he started games. He can do either; he's a deadly finisher on the wing, and a good playmaker and good under the high ball at 15.

I think Daly's best position is probably 15.

If they took three 10s in 2015 and 2019 when it was a 31-man squad it'd be a bit strange to only take two now you're allowed 33 in the squad.

Maybe they'd do it if they had two players who could cover whose primary positions were elsewhere - like Doak at 9 and Frawley at 12. Probably only room for 4 centres, though, so Frawley at 12 would only happen if one of Henshaw and Aki was unavailable.

alot of people seem to think so. i dont see it personally but stranger things have happened. ngatai joining is seen as a reason but he does cover most of the backline

Regarding centre Aki, Ringrose and Henshaw are imo the top 3 centres in Ireland. I don't think there is necessarily a top pair. Injuries and form can separate them.

It's pretty clear that Farrell prefers Henshaw-Ringrose; when all three are fit, that is the first-choice pairing.

You can add the 2nd test v NZ to that list. Aki played most of that game at 12.

Edit: Apologies, you already included it.

Couldn't get past Mike Ala'alatoa in the Crusaders team.

Can't make the extended squad of a team we're currently better than and beat in their own backyard.

You'd have to think he's just not that good, and if he didn't happen to play in NZ, most people wouldn't even know his name.

He just had his first season as a Super Rugby starter.

I reckon he has a good chance of being capped but it might only be sneaking when there is a few injuries.

Being in a country with 4-5 professional teams means that if you hang around for long enough as top 1-2 in your province means you can sneak through and be capped. As a prop he probably has 7-10 years left as a first line professional.

https://www.itsrugby.co.uk/players/oliver-jager-38379.html

Ireland A vs New Zealand XV

Friday November 4th in the RDS

Great idea from the Union. More development for the second tier is a good thing and a game vs New Zealand definitely won't hurt.

Hopefully they are in talks for a possible game or two against A sides during the six nations too.

Emerging Ireland Squad to tour in South Africa to be named this week.

Injuries aside is Kelleher still 1st choice hooker? Sheehan didn't do much wrong in his absence.

The Ireland A fixture is good news. And hopefully Farrell takes performances in that game into consideration for the Fiji and Australia games.

But you can understand why a lot of people are annoyed about it being in The RDS. The Dublin people have hardly been deprived of matches over the last decade. Would seem a perfect opportunity to spread international (mens) rugby around the island to Limerick or Belfast for the first time in god knows how long. The IRFU really don't help themselves sometimes.

While generally I agree with you I would have a slight reservation.

If Ireland A are sharing a camp and coaches with the senior team dublin makes a degree of sense to save travel.

I do agree it's not ideal though.