RWC2023 Build-up thread for Tonga v Ireland Sat 8PM RTE2 & RTE Player (Ire), ITV1 (UK)

Not massively surprising selection given pre game chat. Didn’t sound like farrell would ever rotate heavily.

Before the RWC, most fans were 50/50 on who they got in quarters. Now i suspect given how France v ABs played out Farrell would prefer not to face a confident French team. This may have influenced his desire to ensure starting team is 100% before SA. Also I doubt he saw anything from Scotland that worried him.

No doubt the lessons of losing to Japan are still with him too

not happy with team , if we pick up injuries to Sexton or Ringrose or Doris or Keenan , this selection may come back to haunt Farrell , win and no injuries job done.

But, if Tonga, as I fear, come all out in ther first game to make a mark, we may seriously regret picking so many frontliners , I think we will win this game whaever selections was used , and squad should have been used . big call by Farrell, he has coached the team superbly , but this is the first time I worry about what he has done. even though Tonga are decent, and a huge leap from Romania , a second string team would have won , perhaps using a stronger bench if needed late on.

and regarding bench not sure how Byrne is selected over Crowley , if the unthinkable happens and Sexton got injred and game is close , would much rather Crowley at 10.

if it wont be close , why bother risking all the other key players, also a game against Tonga (or Samoa) will be way more physical than your average game - this is not Romania or Chile.

I hope I am proved wrong

Other than it being Farrell's likely plan all along there are areas of play that still need tightening up, the line out saw a few errors at the weekend, defense for Romania's try was a mess (earlier I pinned it on Jonny but to be fair he was running a support line and both Porter and Aki could have done better to cover), there were a couple of other defensive lapses, a couple of licks weren't ideal, etc. I'm sure the coaches had a long list of things that weren't up to scratch.

Farrell and everyone is looking for a series of perfect games from this team, nothing less will get us the cup. I'm sure he wants as much as possible for Ireland to create an aura of invincibility going into matches, rotation is not going to deliver that as much as building successfully on each outing will.

maybe I'm being over cautious , and Farrell know a lot more than me, but I know how tough those islanders can be (great people of the pitch) - I just hope we dont regret picking the likes of Sexton/Keenan and Rigrose.

I live on the US west coast and do a bit of youth coaching. One of my kids plays U18 and there are a lot of Island players here. Tell me about it. Big fast lads who love to hit and are tough as nails. IMO injuries come from a lack of discipline though, swinging arms, high hits, shoulders, pushing rather than tackling, etc. Much less of that in the pro game. Obviously bigger faster people result in bigger hits but that's the game these days. Not a whole lot different to SA or France for that matter, which may be Farrell's idea.

If we win 5-0 versus SA (big ask but stranger things have happened) Ireland would only need a point versus Scotland to guarantee first and would already be assured a QF place.

It would be funny though if after all the predictions made that Ireland will struggle because of their hard schedule that Ireland would already be pool winners and can rest their entire side versus Scotland, all those predictions will have gone up in smoke in 1 fell swoop!

I agree. I also favour Trimble's theory which is that the team isn't playing particularly well at the moment and needs more game time to become sharper. There was plenty of overrunning the pass in the Romania game, I think the team has to adjust to Sexton's pacing of things now that he's back. Lowe has looked off his game and the line out has been a comparative mess. There's plenty to tighten up before the more difficult tests ahead.

We saw against Samoa and again last night in the Uruguayan match what can happen when you play the B team, it's not a specifically Irish problem.

Newstalk love nothing more than trying to cancel somebody

Sheehan, unquestionably.

It's an interesting one, I think normally Kelleher would obviously be next to start after Sheehan, but his lack of games makes it a live issue should Sheehan not be available for SA and Herring has been playing well when called upon.

A good performance today from Kelleher may tip the balance though.