Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

See where where you're coming from. Apart from what I've wrote I've been exactly the same. Skipping over YouTube videos, not reading articles. I put my thoughts in here because the match thread looked like a **** show.

There should be no 'undisputed' holder of any number, and certainly not at this point in the 4 year cycle

Ringrose is a very good player, but he's not the only 13 playing in Ireland who is Irish qualified. He should have to compete for his shirt the same as any other player does.

The idea that players are 'undisputed' is part of what got us into this situation in the first place. Players being brought to the RWC because of who they used to be, instead of who they are, while better players being left in the cold because they hadn't been given any minutes to prove themselves at international level.

It's impossible to judge whether Kelleher made the right call there. Herring has a couple of tries to his name last season that I swore were him peeling off too early but he scored them, end of discussion. Same with the late try Henshaw scored in Chicago. I'd be interested to hear what the coaches say about these though and whether that effort from Kelleher is something they'd look at and think he should have waited. The maul seemed to be motoring.

havent brought myself around to watching it again yet but i thought at the time that the maul broke down/collapsed rather than kelleher breaking off? could be misremembering it though all the same

again though, i do think the law is a bigger problem here

So you think Garry Ringrose should be the 'Undisputed 13' for Ireland?

All I'm saying is that no player should be 'Undisputed' holder of any jersey on the national team. They should be selected on form. Otherwise we're just holding a slot for them, hoping they play themselves back into form. It's a gamble.

If you asked anyone before the RWC who the Irish Centre partnership should be, most would have said Henshaw and Ringrose, but Aki was our best player in the tournament. Players had long periods of underperforming during the last 4 years but they got kept on, not because they were the best players at the time, but because they were seen as 'un-droppable' (For example James Ryan and Jack Conan both had very poor periods for Ireland and their club over the past 4 years but were still selected time and time again, when it would have been much more useful to have given those minutes to other players who were playing better at the time)

You know Conan had a blood disease? And Ryan suffered multiple concussions? If anyone should be dropped, it has to be the elders. They've nothing more to offer.

I feel bad for them. But they should not have been playing international rugby if they were not fit

That's an awful lot of words to disagree with a point nobody actually made, well done.

On Ringrose not passing, I’ve been making this point for years, he loves to step in off his right rather than pass the ball off his left. Maybe he doesn’t want his winger isolated, maybe he wants the ruck closer to midfield, maybe he doesn’t trust his pass. BUT, on Saturday he did it a few times and made great yards almost every time. His footwork, agility and power get him through one or two tackles more often than not and he might be the best presenter of the ball in the team.

I hope they're not too quick with the changes to the squad this year. I think given that we're going to be playing a new, fairly young 10 (I'm assuming Crowley will keep the shirt for the start of the 6N) it would be good to keep some of the continuity in tact around him. There's a good chance that neither JGP or Bundee are going to be the starter in a couple of years (at least I hope someone new steps up and displaces them) but it probably makes sense to leave them in situ for a year to let the new 10's grow into the shirt.

I'm also looking forward to seeing how they do in a team without the presence of Sexton casting a shadow over them. for the last 10 years anyway it's always felt like others were "filling in" for him. the teams were built around him, and for good reason. I'm just looking at the silver lining. It might take a season yet before the comparisons die down but i'm excited to see who grabs the opportunity

I would imagine we'll be waiting until autumn 2024, supplemented by a tier 2 tour in 2025 to really make significant changes to the team. There's a lot of guys contracted until then who will still be performing well and the coaches will want their experience around the camp with Sexton and Earls gone.

We've a 6N followed by a tour of SA. I just don't see Ireland deviating much from their current squad until after those. We had 37 players in our 6N squad named last January. I'd imagine we'll have our RWC 31 (retirees removed) plus the likes of Frawley, Stockdale, Osborne, Prendergast and one or two others. We may even see Cian Healy back in the squad.

Hopefully, we're in a position to name a slightly wider squad though given the RWC cycle is starting again along with a few development players. Would also really like to see a Wolfhounds/development tour next summer.

4 years ago you would have looked at the 2019 team and said a lot of the key positions were locked in for 2023, unfortunately the same cannot be said about the 2023 team looking ahead to 2027.

Players that it might be a step to far for age in 2027...

Porter 31

Beirne 35

JvDF 34

Furlong 34

Gibson Park 35

James Ryan 31

Ringrose 32

Henshaw 34

Lowe 35

Aki 37

Anyone under 30 should be good to go in 2027, I left Keenan out of the list above since he rarely gets injured, he'll be 31

Think many of the guys in their early 30s should be ok even if some will have fair bit of mileage on the clock if they stay fit over theq next 4 years