Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Rob Kearney made the point on VM after the game. Crowley have the most touches after the 9 so a few mistakes are inevitable.

I can see him and McCarthy as starting Lions in 2025.

Can Farrell be selected for the Lions if he's playing his rugby in France.

Not sure actually.

If not, it's between Crowley and Russell and I'd lean the former.

Though Fin Smith could be very much in the mix by then too.

It's possible Crowley makes a move to NZ and starts for them 😄

Ben healy lions starter

The Lions are mandated to pick average Scots, so not impossible. I think Crowley has a great chance at being selected. He's a proven winner, unlike Russell and is only going to get better. It's not like Australia are any great shakes, even with Schmidt coming in, I'd be shocked if there's a big turnaround for them.

Interesting. Kids take their sport so seriously these days with gym culture and diet supplements seemingly unbiquitous that its not surprising that rugby's appeal is spreading. For talented athletes its no surprise that they are taking a look at rugby given there's a pro route available in Ireland.

I would expect Crowley to travel in the Lions squad at this point. His national coach is selecting and the previous outhalves are all gone bar Russell who will be starting to get on a little and likely to be past his peak. Farrell can be selected but it's up in the air on availability and he too will be past his best at 33 (almost 34). Biggar won't be selected as he's retired from test rugby, injured most of the time and will be pushing 36. Sexton is gone.

They'll take 3 outhalves. It's essentially a selection from Crowley, Smith, Farrell (if available) and Russell. They may even bring all four due to Farrell being an option at 12 and centre options not being overwhelming either. I doubt they'll consider Ford at this point for stylistic reasons.

Crowley will probably be starting, Russell will have a key role off the bench though.

Marcus at this point in time. Fin looks good but he has a big problem in terms of getting top level exposure to prove himself either with his club or England where he's 3rd choice currently.

Russell is an extremely talented player. I'd agree that Irish supporters in general tend to have a real attitude towards him. I certainly didn't rate him very highly in previous years but he has improved significantly in the last 2-3 seasons in terms of eliminating errors and bringing his goal kicking up to a 80%+.

With that said, he's still prone to playing off the cuff in an unpredictable manner that those around him struggle to gel with at times. There's always a risk/reward element with him. It will really depend on what the coaches are looking for.

I think he definitely travels but I'd stop short of saying he's the comfortable frontrunner.

I'm running out of superlatives for Keenan. So I'm going to have to use a soccer comparison. He's this teams Denis Irwin.

Vital. No weaknesses. Great positioning. Excellent at most things. Under the radar. Reliable. Durable. Consistent. Rarely if ever below an 8 out 10 in every game.

I make it that he's now played (Excl RWC Warm-ups) in 36 of Irelands past 38 games.

I wouldn't swap him for any FB in 6N history.

Weve 3 other provinces with fullbacks we can look at also 🤣

Hansens played a bit there this season

Let's get Crowley out of the way first. He showed great awareness while carrying, he tried some audacious stuff that didn't work out but it affected the game by making French defenders slow down so as not to get caught out. Defensively he tackled well and was very aware of everything going on at the breakdown.

It was the best out-half performance of the weekend.

We are blessed to have so many consistent players and for me the first three are Keenan, Beirne and Doris. They have an incredibly high level every game. Dan Sheehan is another and our whole front row. Peter O'Mahony had a period a couple of years ago where he didn't look as good as previously but he's been back to his best for the last twelve months. Hopefully Crowley will become a a member of that consistently high level group.

Imagine having James Ryan, Kelleher, Bealham and Baird on the bench and Mack Hansen out. Things are looking really good.

Hey I'm all for having as few Leinster players in the team as possible but in this case, I don't know that we have a better option. It's actually part of the reason I thought Zebo had a very outside shot at the squad. Maybe Daly might make it in at some point? Or Haley if he gets into form when he comes back.

Hansen if probably on the contingency list aright, but he's only played a game or two there and also isn't in the current squad