Jump_In_Jack wrote: » He just turned 33 last month
bilston wrote: » Has Daly played wing a lot? I've only ever seen him at FB. Obviously most FBs can play wing these days anyway so I assume he can.
its_phil wrote: » Finlay has been going great but how is he playing loose head? Against Georgia of all bloody teams. He’s a tight head. Would have preferred Ultan over Quinn but hopefully we get Ultan back for Ospreys now.
TRC10 wrote: » The mind boggles as to why we are starting a 34 year old on the wing against Georgia in the closest thing to a meaningless game you'll ever get in international rugby. Why not give Lowe a chance to build his confidence? Or throw Daly in there? What are we going to learn about Earl's against Georgia. Dont get me wrong, hes a legend and I love the guy but we'd gain so much more from seeing Lowe or Daly at 11.
theVersatile wrote: » 15. Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 31 caps 14. Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster) 4 caps 13. Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster) 12 caps 12. Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster) 3 caps 11. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 86 caps 10. Billy Burns (UIster) 2 caps 9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 85 caps 1. Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) 13 caps 2. Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 14 caps 3. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 30 caps 4. Iain Henderson (Academy/Ulster) 56 caps 5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 30 caps Captain 6. Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster) 16 caps 7. Will Connors (Leinster/UCD) 4 caps 8. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 44 caps Replacements 16. Dave Heffernan (Buccaneers/Connacht) 4 caps 17. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 102 caps 18. John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 21 caps 19. Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 14 caps 20. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 71 caps 21. Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 27 caps 22. Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) 9 caps 23. Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster) uncapped
CMcsporty wrote: » 1st part in bold is grossly unfair. 2nd part in bold is also is. He had 1 Opportunity - He was held up by a guy grabbing his arms. Good defense. Yes an opportunity missed. Fair point.... But give him a break! The amount of stick Farrell gets (particularly because he is big) is totally unjustified. The massive concern is the way Ireland went out to play. How did they try to utilise him? By getting a 6ft 4 guy to smash that English defence! To get him to dive onto grubbers! Worrying
Buer wrote: » I've seen this raised a few times. Farrell had several solid carries in the second half when we had our purple patch and were making yards. Outside of that, he struggled with ball in hand. He was repeatedly stopped or knocked back. I'm a huge Farrell fan and he was dealing with terrible attacking alignment but I was still disappointed with his production. Normally, he's so powerful that he can force his way over the gain line even with a defender in his face. He had 15 carries for 17m so he certainly wasn't getting over the gain line with any real success. His two most memorable moments in the game were negative. He was scorched on the outside by May for the second try and he then failed to ground a ball when he was held up by a guy who is 15kg lighter than him. Farrell is an excellent player but if he has any ambition to break past the trio of centres ahead of him, he's going to need to take his opportunities far more accurately than he did against England.
shootermacg wrote: » Slade isn't a small man either. A lot of people seem to think he's smaller than he actually is. I would say over 100Kg and 6'3 isn't exactly a pushover.
Former Former Former wrote: » He wasn't skinned by him though, Farrell was exactly where he needed to be to make the tackle, he just didn't execute it. Farrell is a decent player but once either Henshaw or Ringrose is back, he'll be squad depth again, he's just not at the same level.
Buer wrote: » I can't recall the specific incident but if Healy was held up in a similar situation then of course he should be grounding it.
shootermacg wrote: » Should we then say that Cian Healy shouldn't be getting held up either?
CMcsporty wrote: » Yes that is a different analysis to the point you were making about gain line. You were critiquing his performance specifically on the amount of carries and lack of gain line. That is a gameplan issue and complete system failure. Thats not on Farrell - so yes that it is grossly unfair.
Buer wrote: » He was skinned by a world class attacker. But this is the level he's playing at. He doesn't get a pass because of it; he needs to make those tackles and he was in a perfect position to do so. I very much doubt he's giving himself a pass on it. What more could he have done for grounding the ball? Probably grounding it, for a start. Slade did excellently but Farrell is a huge man. He was going over the line, face down and was flipped entirely onto his back. The advantage is always with the attacker there. Again, I would imagine Farrell is disappointed with himself there. The hardest part was gathering the bobbling ball.
TRC10 wrote: » If you're immediately writing off anyone who has been skinned by Jonny May, then you're writing off a lot of world class players. Very easy to criticise someone for getting held up but it was excellent defence. Not sure what more he could have done.
Buer wrote: » Is it? He had two specific involvements which led to a try being scored and a try not being scored. I'm not referencing his general play overall which was a symptom of what was happening inside him. Trucking it up in general play is not something I'm going to hold against him. Missing a tackle on turnover ball which ends up in a try and failing to ground a ball against a single defender is absolutely on him. Those were two key moments which I'd identify as his opportunities to stand out. Killing an attack on turnover ball and scoring a try would be two key moments on both sides of the ball and, when the game reviews happen, you can be sure they're being looked at.
TRC10 wrote: » If you're immediately writing off anyone who has been skinned by Jonny May, then you're writing off a lot of world class players.
CMcsporty wrote: » His only competition for 13 is Henshaw. Using that England game as a barometer for Farrell "taking his opportunities far more accurately" is grossly unfair.
UAEguy2020 wrote: » Funny because the performance at 10 from Byrne is no different to the performance Sexton has served up playing at 10 vs England, only difference is he’s Sexton so doesn’t get picked on as much.