Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Fully training and preparing two completely separate squads. Without negatively impacting the senior team? Do you think that’s realistic?

Though this seem to extend from the summer tour and the extended squad. The goals here seem to be different. There are some players here who are likely to be on the edge or involved in the RWC squad. Some others who won’t be. That suggests their is more than one objective to this tour.

I would guess (pure guesswork) that the ones in this tour, that might make the RWC squad. Will be seen as the leaders and this tour will be a chance to assess how that works.

I really don’t like the provincial angle this has started to take on. Do you not think Leinster supporters, of all the provincial supporters, get impacted by Team Ireland? Last season we lost to Ulster twice because the internationals weren’t available. That meant Ulster were close to full strength and we were miles off full strength. Do you not think that as a Leinster fan I’d rather watch Furlong, Sexton and Keenan over Ala’alatoa, Ross Byrne and Max O’Reilly?

I have some sympathy for Connacht on this as at least they are contributing their fair share to an Ireland 23. Ulster contribute 1 player to that 23. Who do you think makes up the shortfall? Leinster do. We lose more players than we should to player welfare year after year after year, game after game after game. And so when it comes time to play Ulster in or around an international window we just need to suck it up. We’re not on here playing the victim. Instead we field a massively weakened side to face a near full strength side. And that’s okay, because Team Ireland is what makes rugby on this island what it is.

Its incredibly frustrating to then see people on here moaning and complaining about losing a few players for a few weeks when they are used to not having to deal with that year in, year out. We deal with that all the time. And deal with it more than we should because those same people now moaning get to deal with it less than they should.

Yes we are lucky that we have the depth to manage it, but we only have that depth because we need that depth. Those players wouldn’t be there (through no places being available or no game time driving them elsewhere) if they weren’t needed. And in fact some of those might actually be in other provinces bolstering their ranks if that were the case and making Irish rugby stronger. And we might see something more akin to a fair (not equal) division of internationals around the provinces then. So when an Emerging Ireland tour comes up again we might see a fair division of impact there too. But while Leinster are busy picking up the shortfall elsewhere, how else will an Emerging Ireland squad appear?

There is no way Ahern is in the Munster 23. Who out of Beirne, Snyman and Kleyn is making way for him? Likewise, are Hodnett and Kendellen going to push out JOD out of the 23 completely? The XV for the weekend isn't a good omen.

Blade isn't the starting 9 for Connacht either.

Only 9 posts that’s a new record, even for a re-reg tRoL

I see Jim Demps' grammar has improved

Leinster lose those players the same way every club does, Leinster just happens to have a better squad so they lose more. The IRFU deciding to have some development tour against second rate sides and weaken provinces for nearly a quarter of the league season is an entirely separate issue.

Bealham is injured but is expected to be back in training next week. We have high hopes for Illo, but little to base that on since he moved to Connacht, personally i think he's exactly the sort of player who will benefit from this tour, and we just need to suck up his absence.

DTM is important to us especially because Delahunt is out for at least another couple of months. Stewart is something of an unknown quantity, but the fact that he was available at short notice is indicative that others have passed.

That said, two hard facts: the current design of the URC means that it will be hard to qualify for Europe this year anyway. I would have expected a low return on this opening set of games even without the tour, 2 or 3/5 at best. Second, all this stuff about devaluing the league is nonsense: the provinces are subsidiaries of the IRFU. If AF & co. decide that this tour will be useful for the national program, their word is law, and this is especially so given the results they have delivered.

As a Connacht fan, I'm far more aggravated by the limitations on the province's budget so that we couldn't get the TH that we really do need. That's a legitimate complaint IMHO.

To those concerned about one injury leaving their province down to the bare bones during this tour...

I think there's a good chance that if a province gets an injury that really hinders them, the IRFU will let them keep their player from the Emerging Ireland squad.

For example, if Marmion was to get injured, I think Blade then wouldn't travel to SA. Or if Stockdale got injured, Ulster would be allowed to keep Baloucoune/McIlroy. Or if Ben Healy got injured, Crowley would stay with Munster.

They are clearly devaluing the league. I’m not sure what you’re on about their word being law, of course they have the authority to do this, that doesn’t mean they should.

But taking 35 lads or whatever number to play second tier South African teams outside the international windows and causing them to miss a quarter of the league devalues the league.

Interesting insight from Bernard Jackman on Off the Ball. Provinces were very unhappy with tour, so the players now going are not the ones Farrell and Co had in mind to travel, they wanted to bring players who are much closer to senior squad, almost the second string. That would have at least made sense from a World Cup perspective, rather than this squad who will likely have 0-2 players in RWC 23. Very poor communication that this wasn't resolved before IRFU committed to it.