Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Would be fitting for him to end up our record points scorer. Needs 40 points between rest of the 6N, RWC warmups and RWC itself, you'd think he should get there comfortably enough.

When I think of Johnny making a break. 😁

GS and a good performance, but not necessarily winning, in a WC QF would be very successful.

Not winning the 6N from here would be a huge disappointment. We're in pole position and we're better than every team we have to play yet.

It's hard to say for the RWC. We could conceivably get to the QF, play our absolute peak game, and still lose to either NZ or France. That will be disappointing obviously but the key is actually showing up. If we stumble and get hammered it'll be a nightmare. If we play in a game as high quality as the weekend and lose by a score, it won't be a success but it won't be a failure imo.

i wouldnt be too worried about scotland tbh. they generally are up for any england game and they beat a very poor welsh team. i wouldnt be surprised at all if they lost the rest of their games. i dont see it being a walkover since its away, but i think ireland should be 5-10 point winners.

england may be coming good by the time of the last game but i dont think they'll be at a level to match ireland either. in a way its crazy to be talking about it after only two games but a grand slam should be the minimum for the 6N

RWC is a different story, anything can happen between now and then. being on the tougher side of the draw doesnt help either

Yeah, going out in the 1/4 final, regardless of the circumstances, would be a failure given the quality of this team and the fact that they’ve come into this season on an upward trajectory. Maybe Irish rugby will continue to go from strength to strength, and all signs point that way, but still, we need to be winning WC knockout games to be regarded as a top team.

England in the doldrums and Scotland’s heads filled with dreams of glory should make both those games winnable. Italy even playing their best game should not get close to us. The GS is on, but so is a World Cup medal.

I've fancied us to win the GS from about the 10th minute of the Welsh match and am even more confident. Of course a bad day at the office and it can go up in smoke.

The WC I'm not sure about. The nature of the draw means it's hard to predict. To me losing a QF or losing a SF is all more or less the same thing. Either way you don't win the WC or reach the final. If we win a QF (if we get there), then the emotional and mental strength involved in beating either France in Paris or NZ would be huge...remember how flat England were in the final after beating NZ in 2019. In other words winning the World Cup would be the most remarkable rugby achievement conceivable, maybe the greatest Irish sporting achievement in history. Falling short wouldn't be a disgrace.

I would be worried if I was French on the evidence of the last 2 games. The French pack were outclassed, Aldritt was anonymous and their missing couple starters made huge difference. To me their second half performance lacked ideas, they continued to play well enough but they didn't have anything new after half time. That is where Ireland were in 2019 and it's a bad sign at this stage, they also looked in poor condition. It might be a temporary dip, or it could be to do with how much rugby these guys play, but one way or another that's two on the trot where things have not gone well. Ireland's vicotry over Wales put he French performance against them into starker light.

If Ireland don't win the Grand Slam, it will be one of rugby's biggest chokes. And they have to be favourites for the RWC now as well.

Not sure he was at a club at the moment but Jack McGrath has retired. Sort of gets forgotten now but won over 50 caps, took the starting shirt off Cian Healy, and spent a couple of seasons as an absolute elite level prop. It's a shame the way his career tailed off the way it did. He's only 33 so entirely conceivable he could have still been in the Ireland setup.