Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I'm a bit perplexed at the selection of Prendergast at 8 given that he only plays there the odd time for Connacht as injury cover. Honestly starting to believe Farrell has some sort of issues with the way Coombes plays his rugby, he's has consistently overlooked him for selection despite great club form. Coombes has been a fixture at 8 for Munster since Stander left, in fact we haven't missed Stander one bit. Which is saying a lot. I think Prendergast won't make the 33 either but it looks like he's first call up if one of our no.8s gets injured which to me is a weird call. There's definitely a top 4 back rows for Ireland, POM as a 6 only, Doris and Conan as a 6 and 8 and JvdF as a 7. We're stacked at 6 because Beirne and Baird are both good there and have played plenty of rugby there. So why choose Prendergast? It's 7 and 8 cover that we need and neither are his natural / best position.

I wonder if he would get called up in the event of an injury to Doris or Conan. Given that he seems to not play the type of game Farrell desires, or isn't versatile enough position wise, perhaps Deegan would be looked at instead?

Just seems very odd to not even give Coombes a run out from the bench. Wouldn't be shocked either if one of Beirne or Baird beat out POM for the 6 jersey at some point.

If you've actually convinced yourself of this to help ease the pain of Coombes' omission, that's actually quite funny

We have known for some time that Prendergast was ahead of Coombes in the pecking order. But I reckon Prendergast is being played at 8 this weekend to give him an opportunity to really convince the coaches that he genuinely offers 3-tool backrow cover. This was never to compare him to Coombes, it's probably more with a view to deciding between him and either Baird or McCarthy.

Edit: And the more I think about it, the more I reckon it's Prendergast vs McCarthy....

Maybe Faz thinks Prendergast is the better player!

Prendergast deserves his chance on Saturday . Looking like a 19-14 split in the WC squad at this stage with Baird, prendergast, McCarthy travelling with the usual suspects.

hopefully a win but absolutely no injuries please.

I personally think Coombes won’t even be starting for Munster in 2 or 3 years time, Gleeson and Quinn will be coming through at 8 and 6 most likely with Hodnett and Kendellen fighting it out at 7. Coombes is world class 5 meters out but not much after that. Really looking forward to the potential battle between Gleeson and Doris, that could be spectacular.

Well I greatly look forward to the back-to-back-to-back Heineken Cups that will be won by a Munster side that's so good Gavin Coombes can't get into it!

Stats don’t tell a full picture, stockdales stats against Italy were pretty impressive if I remember correctly