Not sure Larmour had done much to merit selection in the starting XV.
Where did you see that Henshaw is rehabbing with Ireland? I've had a look and can't see it anywhere.
Good question. It makes sense at Leinster to start both Porter and Furlong with Healy and Alaalatoa on the bench. You could make an argument that Ireland are better served with Healy/Kilcoyne at LH and Furlong/Porter at TH. Whose 3rd choice TH? O’Toole or Bealham?
From Twitter
Graham Love
@glove931
The United States have officially launched their bid to host the 2027 or 2031 Rugby World Cup. Johnny Sexton is expected to captain Ireland at both.
Announcement says
"Robbie Henshaw will continue his rehabilitation programme under the supervision of the Ireland medical team."
Which I guess could mean he's still at Leinster and just checking in with Ireland.
I still think the backline play wasnt brilliant against England, was probably the best out of all the matches but still needs work. Strike moves im not worried about and tbh we dont have some great strike moves every now and then but it feels like once we go through 3 or 4 phases our back play is totally predictable. Everyone talks about the first try against England but I think the attack we had that lead to the Conan try was one of the most pleasing tries for me as we did a lot of what I would want and hope from our attack out wide. The most encouraging thing to come from that England game was we seemed to do alot of genuine attack off penalty advantages but until I see it more regularly ill still need to hold my reservation.
Im talking from experience, when I was u15 we would do that alot and when it came to match day every move we had in the backs went out the window and the pack took over, its exactly what we see from Ireland all to often sadly. It feels when we spin it wide and we score it's almost by accident than design.
Top man, cheers! I missed that bit.
They're obviously hoping to see him take the field at some stage if he's still around the squad.
By position (best guess anyway):
Forwards (21)
1 Andrew Porter, Dave Kilcoyne, Cian Healy,
2 Rónan Kelleher, Rob Herring, Dan Sheehan,
3 Tadhg Furlong, Finlay Bealham, Tom O’Toole,
4 Tadhg Beirne, Ultan Dillane, Ryan Baird,
5 Iain Henderson, James Ryan, Thomas Ahern
6 Peter O’Mahony, Caelan Doris,
7 Josh van der Flier, Nick Timoney,
8 Jack Conan, Gavin Coombes,
Backs (19)
9 Conor Murray, Jamison Gibson Park, Craig Casey,
10 Johnny Sexton, Joey Carbery, Harry Byrne,
11 Simon Zebo, James Lowe,
12 Bundee Aki, Stuart McCloskey, Ciarán Frawley,
13 Garry Ringrose, James Hume,
14 Keith Earls, Robert Baloucoune, Andrew Conway,
15 Hugo Keenan, Jordan Larmour, Jamie Osborne.
The way I see it:
1 Andrew Porter, David Kilcoyne, Cian Healy
2 Rónan Kelleher, Rob Herring, Dan Sheehan
3 Tadhg Furlong, Tom O’Toole, Finlay Bealham
4 James Ryan, Thomas Ahern
5 Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird, Ultan Dillane
6 Tadhg Beirne
7 Josh van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony
8 Jack Conan, Gavin Coombes, Caelan Doris, Nick Timoney
9 Conor, Jamison Gibson-Park, Craig Casey
10 Jonathan Sexton, Harry Byrne, Ciarán Frawley, Zoolander
11 Simon Zebo, Jordan Larmour, James Lowe
12 Fua Leiofi Bundellu Aki, Stuart McCloskey
13 Garry Ringrose, James Hume
14 Robert Baloucoune, Keith Earls, Andrew Conway
15 Hugo Keenan, Jamie Osborne
I'd be tempted to have Hume ahead of Ringrose, though.
Boards. Where suggesting the attack is “like they just met in the car park like an average underage AIL side” is equated to “holding your reservations”.
Fua Leiofi Bundellu Aki and Zoolander...
You've got to stop replying to this clown
I’m sorry....but Sexton again is astonishingly short sighted
https://twitter.com/glove931/status/1450900953427816452?s=21
He's not that good, he's old and there are better options worth exploring.
Only disappointment for me is that Nathan Doak hasn't been brought into the training panel like Osbourne and Ahern.
I honestly think he has what it takes to be a superstar.
Ah come on. If you honestly thought there was any prospect of Sexton not being named, then that's on you. Completely delusional.
Takes one to know one.
Because you can have an opinion but at the same time be open minded enough to be willing to change you're position in the future if you see new evidence that goes against you're previous assertion. Pretty obvious or are you just an idiot?
Having a 4th scrum half in the squad dilutes the training time for the 3 guys who will actually play, and reduces the number of reps they get in during the week.
When it's a 2nd row or a centre/back 3 player you can rotate in and out more in training without drastically reducing the number of reps the playing squad gets.
A case could be made for not including Sexton in the November squad
But you definitely want him there for the 6 Nations because he's our best 10 and it's silverware.
I do think there's a good possibility he only plays the All Blacks game.
He's the captain, his name is the first one written down for the squad. I cannot see any scenario where a fit and available Ireland captain is ever left out of any training camp.
I mean, it happened in July.
I actually thought they might take the opportunity to give somebody like Henderson the captaincy.
Or perhaps make it a co-captaincy, on a transitional basis.
Sexton is our best 10 clearly, but you can't ignore his age and lack of durability
Contract us up at the end of the season at Connacht. I'd say he'll be off to France. Obviously he's not going to get a look in with Ireland again. He should be 2nd choice 10 on form but isn't in the top 3. Maybe even top 4 as they've been selecting Burns ahead of him as well recently.
This past summer?
Carty really isn’t the 2nd best 10 on form. He is still the same player he has been for the last 2 seasons. Capable of the sublime and the ridiculous. The ridiculous being the thing that’s keeping him out of the Ireland squad. Which he himself has acknowledged. I’m at a loss as to why so many others are incapable of seeing that.
The 2nd best 10 on form is Burns. But as we all know, form is only one of a number of considerations when selecting a Test squad.
Sexton is still leagues ahead of every other 10 in the country. Anyone thinking he’d be left out of a series that included a game against NZ was simply kidding themselves. It was never going to happen.
On what form exactly? Two weeks ago Connacht fans were giving out yards about how poor his decision making was. Blaming him for a try conceded. Is it selective form, where you only look at his good games and ignore all the ones in between?
Ah I know, but it gives me a chuckle. His latest being that he thinks he's "open-minded".
I agree it can be amusing at first but when he inevitably starts spamming the thread and spouting utter sh*te it just gets tedious.
Well Carberys form has been very consistent for a good while now.
If form was the only metric for inclusion. Carberry would be nowhere near the team. Carty’s form has been what it always is, erratic.
