Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I like the balance of one traditional, strike running winger (Conway, Earls, Baloucoune) and one auxiliary playmaking winger (Lowe, Hansen, O'Brien).

Lowe IMO is the best at the latter by a distance and if he's fit, he'll start. For some reason Hansen performs much better on the left wing. So for me it's him or Lowe, not both.

Conway would be my preference at 14, but he's been out injured for a long time and he's getting on a bit now. So whether he'll get back to the level he was at last season is a big unknown. I really like Baloucoune and would like to see him given the amount time Lowe got, as I think he has a huge upside. But he's quite injury prone and has had a worryingly high number of hamstring injuries. Earls is a legend but there's obvious question marks over him, being the age that he is for a winger. If he's playing well I'd have no qualms with his inclusion.

It's not an area of strength for us. We've not produced a world class winger since Tommy Bowe. Our wingers tend to be functional rather than outstanding game breakers. I know it's a very unpopular opinion but I'd still like to see Ringrose given a go there, given how stacked we are with quality in the centres. He tore the Sharks to pieces there a few weeks ago. I know he's an outstanding 13 but sometimes you need to look at your resources and cut your cloth accordingly. Because we don't have any wingers who'd frighten any tier 1 defense.

I dont think any of our wingers are good enough to be number 1 by a clear margin

Exactly.

The only absolutely vital players are Furlong & Sexton.

Without Sexton, we won't go far. Carberry isn't good enough! Crowley is a work in progress.

Andy Farrell knew all along that Sexton would be 38 coming into the World Cup, so I would be astounded if he hasn't devised a strategy that we will see come more and more into our play where the 10 is less essential to the game plan.

I appreciate Sexton is a great player when he is on song, but he has a lot of games where is is average to poor, so the gap isn't that huge really, and in fact I could see the likes of Carbery or Crowley, or Harry Byrne, stepping in and actually being better than Sexton.

If Sexton gets to the World Cup in good nick and is performing at his best, then great, if he's not then the next player in should take his place. There should be no place for anyone that is underperforming, the team is stronger than that in every position.

& Porter

& JGP

Lowe is vital/integral in the sense that he is the only left footed winger Ireland have who can do all of the following to a very high level: smash the ball downfield, come in at first receiver, make gain line, offload, play what's in front of him.

Plus he is surrounded by other Leinster players. In particular, JGP, Keenan and of course Sexton. I think that is a significant and he regularly swaps positions with Keenan when in their own half and also links up really well with JGP.

He was badly missed against France last year in attack and also kicking for territory. France regularly kicked long to Hansen/Conway, Keenan and JGP and Ireland lost field position and didn't even look to counter attack.

That's the point, any team in World Rugby that loses 5 players from their strongest lineup will struggle to perform at the same level enough to win a World Cup.

Missing 1 or 2 players should not make any difference, or at least so small a difference that it shouldn't be the deciding factor.

When you take a step back and look at our team, our strength is in our tenacity and work-rate in the pack, and the slick passing in our backs at a fast tempo.

Watching Ireland in this Autumn series it was evident that we have the best back-line plays in World Rugby right now. I didn't see any other team come close to the level of detail the Irish team are exhibiting on a regular basis.

And on top of that, we have the adaptability to play in different ways, have different players take leading roles, and our defence is cohesive and formidable, both in tackling and fielding.

I would put our team on par (if not superior) with France, England, South Africa and New Zealand in respect of those qualities.

Other teams have different strengths such as their front row or their second row or their wingers, but overall as a package Ireland are more than capable of beating any team in the world at the World Cup.

I haven't kept a log, just noticed it. What's his kicking % like recently, my impression has been that he's missed a lot of shots at goal lately.

And from here on until next September you can guarantee he will be under the microscope with Andy Farrell.

We'll see how he bounces back from his current injury.

Personally I wish he will return in top form and continue on to the RWC that way, but let's be clear, anything less than that and other options should be used, particularly those with more pace. At 37/38 pace is one thing that will inevitably decline.

Same issue happened with Rory Best last time around. The selector should have been more ruthless at the time and selected Herring ahead of him.

VDF is probably a vital player as well really. Best player in the world currently and even though we've some good open sides knocking about, bone are on his level.

It's a similar story with Doris. We've a lot of good number 8's in Ireland, but his performances over the last 12 months are head and shoulders above anyone else.