Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Munster have at least 2 more games against South African teams.

Will be interesting if munster start casey again in both.

Similar to how Leinster targeted Lowry last weekend I can see the South African teams target Casey again..

Far more likely to be an 18/15 forwards/backs split IMO.

There won't be 6 backrows, and I'd wager there will be 5 back threes

Some things that could make only 4 back three options attractive

• Centre options of Henshaw and Aki for inside centre and Ringrose and JOB for outside centre - JOB could also fill in in the back three
• A Baloucoune or a Stockdale or a Conway not demanding selection with their performances
• One or more of the outhalf options being able to fill in at fullback. I'm thinking primarily of Crowley and Frawley here

The other thing to consider is that the concussion standdown period is longer now than it was in 2019. Are there more concussion-prone players in certain positions? You've probably got Doris, Ryan and Henderson in the back five of the pack.

If Osbourne comes back I'd be shocked if he doesn't get it. He's a cut above and covers 5 positions to high degree of quality.

With Andy Farrell, I don't think there's such thing as "too soon". If you get into camp and show the coaches what they like, they've shown they have no problem throwing you in. Look at Hansen for example. He'd played 9 games for Connacht and he went straight to being pretty much a first choice player. Ross Byrne went from being completely in the wilderness for over a year, to being a first 23 player.

Now, I'm not saying that's what will happen with Nash. But if he keeps up his current form for the rest of the season, and get's into camp and impresses the coaches, I think it's very possible he goes to the World Cup. Especially given that the guys he's competing with (Earls, Conway, Larmour, Baloucoune, Stockdale) all have at least one big question mark over them, such as form, age, injuries or deficiencies in their game.

Nash's current form is better than all of those guys, and the coaches have already had him involved in Emerging tours, 'A' internationals and senior squads. So he's 100% in the conversation.

Dunno about that. He fits the same mold as JOB, but I think he'll be better personally. He's played across the backline for Leinster, and while I agree that he's likely longterm going to be in the centre, he's looked good in every position. He also has a similar cannon for a left boot as Lowe, and I could see him being used to replicate his role in the team.

I could see one of Aki and McCloskey losing out, to have 2 back 3 slots.

Would be absolutely shocked if Aki didn't make the squad.

Is Joe McCarthy likely to be fit before the WC?

Apparently the chiefs scrum has been getting rinsed the past two games from what I've read. I'm not sure reports of him being in "great form" are accurate.

He doesn't really. Osborne has only started 3 games in the back three in his pro career. Both his starts on the emerging tour were in the centre, he started for the 'A' team at centre and was named in the 6N squad as a centre. I think it's pretty clear that's where the Irish coaches see him. That's not to say he can't cover the back three. But that's very different to JOB, who is almost solely a wing/fullback who can cover 13.

I'm pretty sure JOB started or at least played a good chunk of a game at 10 at one point. I don't think he came through as a back three player. He's just extremely versatile.