Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Yeah, I was really keen to see how Jager in particular would fare at this level.

Is that not allowed?

I dont think Henshaw should be playing this week. He clearly takes a blow from Kolisi in the 15th minute and is then substituted at HT.

He looked dazed after it. They sprayed a bit of water on him! He was following the ball about it after and falling off tackles. The next time he touches the ball he flings it straight into touch.

He has passed all the HIA protocols, I presume, but is that really good enough??

Like they even let Sheehan play on for 10mins when he was clearly playing on 1 leg. He's out for fecking 6-9 months now.

It's not good enough. The players need to be protected from themselves.

Its not happening.

O'Mahony is a grand impact sub, that myth being peddled here that he isn't good off the bench is a bit annoying.

Georgia and Rumania next summer. Could possibly see caps for Hodnett, Penny, Boyle, Wilson and Gavin. There's absolutely no reason to bring established players.

I'm not seeing the point of a top 3 Test side going to face the 20th ranked side - even if the former are missing their first XV because they're with the Lions. What do Ireland get out of it? They get to bring in some new players to get them used to the way Ireland do things. But would they not get a huge amount more if the games were challenging? Ireland should still be very strong even with their Lions away. I suppose hopefully Georgia will provide a test.

I wonder what Ireland players will make the Lions. Farrell is very loyal to his players, and the players have a head start over Welsh, Scottish and English players because they play to his gameplan already.

Wasn't that comment only pretty recent, during Nucifora's fairwell tour? Well more than a year after the EI tour. Nucifora generally kept his head down.

What Humphrey's has done is completely different and set up an open goal when the inevitable NIQ front row is signed by a province. His actual quote is caveated more than the headlines but it shows he is quite lack of experience.

It isnt even the first time he has done this - when he spoke about provinces paying for central contracted players he also caveated it but the headline writers and many online were selective in their quotes. I thought that was him being smart but I'm starting to think he is naive and doesnt know when to keep his mouth shut.

If enacted, I am not even sure it will be of benefit to Irish player production. There is a good argument that without Alaalatoa coming in it is unlikely both Aungier and Salanoa would have left - good argument that both would have stayed to fight for their place and they'd both be sitting behind Furlong and Clarkson would have gotten near zero minutes.

Argentina. They're currently ranked 7th. A series against them in 2025 would have been winnable and challenging, I think. Even shorn of 15 odd first teamers Ireland still have a lot of quality.

True, it's good that Georgia get exposure. Hopefully it's two games against them.

so they should just bring 23 players?

There will be change, how much? Farrell really can't stand pat, the tried and trusted came up short. For the most part, I believe we were fairly average in this year's 6nations. But then again France were brutal. Nonetheless, a blooding of a few lads next summer will help somewhat. Georgia will be a stern test with a weaker younger and inexperienced squad. My guess would be Sam P gets capped in the autumn and Jager gets a sniff. I'm hoping for a breakout in the hookers. Maybe Stewart? D Barron?

English will be a tougher proposition next year. They looked pretty good against NZ last week, their attack is getting much better. We need to stay innovative and not be so reliant on Hansen and Lowe to create opportunities in the backs.

I think England are in Argentina next summer, Scotland is in the south Pacific. Wales in Japan, lions in Australia. France is in New Zealand. And with Ireland in south africa I'd say their options were limited to Eastern Europe or North America and Canada.. arguably Georgia and Romania will be tougher games than USA and Camada.