I wish we were in a situation where Sexton is there in addition to a younger ten who is reliable and starting regularly, but we aren't there unfortunately, partly because we haven't got that other ten, partly because of injuries, partly because of poor succession planning and partly just bad luck. I rewatched the 1/4 final against the All Blacks again, and last Summer's Japan test. The AB's game was one of the worst half back performances I've seen. Both Sexton and Murray were hopeless and the AB's were feasting off their mistakes, Murray's game was one of those you'd say should ensure he never plays a test again. When Sexton went off we still hadn't scored. We should keep performances like this in mind when taking for granted that Sexton is miles ahead of where others can get to, he is consistent but he has bombed quite often in his test career.
One observation on the 10 situation; fair to say we've picked out 3 most injury prone 10's? There's a decent chance 1, even 2 of them could be injured come RWC time.
Personally, I'd like to see Sexton starting just the NZ game and getting as much time into Carbery and HB as possible in the other Tests.
"...if you continue with this I know where you will be heading from my perspective anyway."
The naughty step?
If you want to keep telling yourself you've been proven right, when before the England you were telling us that Ross Byrne delivers the same performance against England as Sexton, have at it. Even after the England game, you doubled down and wouldn't admit you were wrong.
In any case, I see zero value in continuing this, so for the sake of everyone else on here, I'll leave it there. (#gutless, right?).
If he makes it to Feb in one piece!
This is a situation created by Farrell and the IRFU. I would have cut the link after his last contract.
What are Ireland hoping to achieve by picking Sexton in this Nov Squad? Beating NZ? That would be good and all (it wont happen!) and esp. good for Farrell – but therein lies the issue.
It doesn’t serve the team well going into another 6N with a 36 y.o. Johnny steering the ship in my opinion.
You simply can't beat the sands of time. Farrell is playing an increasingly risky game.
We finally have a fit Carbery and an exciting prospect in Harry Byrne. Also, Ben Healy now challenging Carbery. All young, talented and motivated. They should be the ones given the chance to call the shots now.
I was hoping that they may have resigned Sexton in a "break glass in case of emergency" role. Its time to move on.
And for what its worth Doak should be in the squad. He has pedigree and He is ready. Ruan Pienaar II
I can't agree with that. Being inconsistent isn't the same as not being good enough. I'd rather see him lining out, knowing there's a possibility he can do something, versus Bryne or Carberry, who haven't shown that they produce at all.
The biggest knock against Carty is that he's not good enough.
He's sixth choice for Ireland at a time when we are very short on quality out-halves.
Goal-kicking is the least of his worries I'm afraid.
If the biggest knock against Carty is inconsistency, there are steps that could be taken to mitigate the negatives. There are other players capable of taking kicks at goal, a facet of the squad that ought be developed anyway. Outside of Sexton, he's the only OH who has shown an ability to create attacking opportunities.
Quite evidently, the Ireland management know what they'll get from Billy Burns and it cuts no mustard.
Burns starts big games in Ulster as they have no one else, would have him Sexton, both byrnes and even frawley at outhalf if he was Leinster.
Doak has shown more at senior level that H Byrne. I'm not saying hes a bad player but he can't string sequences of games together without getting injured. So no we don't know what he can do at that level because we don't see what goes on in training.
I'd rather see Billy burns there ahead of him a player who starts big games for Ulster. H Byrne has in reality done very little in a provincial jersey. If there was a big game tomorrow I seriously doubt he'd be in the 23 for Leinster. Like if he was putting genuine pressure on Sexton I'd accept the argument but he's not.
Have him in camp fine, learn, grand, current 3rd choice in Ireland, he is not
I don't think it's too much to ask that player's playing for Ireland are in form and are regulars for their province
That “selection policy” isn’t unique to Ireland though. If you don’t know what you’re going to get from a player then it’s really hard to justify his selection. Especially in such a pivotal position. Harry Byrne has been in camp consistently and has obviously shown enough, given his age, to warrant inclusion. Carty has 7 or 8 years on him so that will impact the decision making too. Whatever issues Byrne might have in his game can be ironed out. Carty isn’t likely to change much at this stage in his career.
Because I am, if I see parts of our team improve in area's I have been critical of then I will hold my hands up and say I was wrong but sadly I havent been proven wrong consistently, its nice having the odd game where it works but if what we saw against England isnt on evidence this Autumn then what ive said sadly hasnt been disproven. The term "being open minded" means by definition being open to new idea's which I am if I see evidence to do so. Ive already changed my position on the pack in 2021, before I thought it was soft as **** and now I think its arguably the best pack to perform as a unit in the NH in 2021... I dont know why you think acting like a twat makes you look clever here because it doesn't, maybe to other pee headed posters like TRC but other than that... anyway that enough on this as all its doing is dragging the topic off course, if you continue with this I know where you will be heading from my perspective anyway.
@TRC10
By spamming the chat you mean making logical and reasonable opinions on a topic and making solutions to the problem and then you dont like what ive said or arguing against it other than by throwing insults my way. Its a funny way of interpreting it, calling it "sh*te" or "tedious" makes you look like a big strong man doesn't, trying to play off the fact you really don't know what you are talking about as if you are the intelligent person in this discussion that know's what you are talking about...sadly for you there is only a handful of people you are fooling in this situation. Maybe you need to grow a pair of balls yourself and treat others opinion's with a bit of respect and not brand it as "sh*te" just because you dont agree with it and if you continue being a twat you will be going to same way as aloooof. Now change the subject back to Ireland rugby thanks.
I think what OldRio was getting at is that Carbery's form has been consistent over the last while. Consistently poor.
That selection policy also led to us having the 2019 season where we tried to play people into form when it just wasn't working and they never improved
I think Carty/Burns should be in the squad over H,Byrne mainly due to the fact they have played top level rugby and sadly for Harry been able to play a good few games from the beginning in a row without getting injured.
Carberry is in a funk but will get out of it. I don't know the guy personally so I don't know if the arm around the shoulder we are sticking with you and starting you is what's needed and that's why he's getting bigger games over Healy who is playing better and why he's in the squad
Based on what we've seen so far in Farrell's tenure, Carty isn't competing with Carbery or even Harry Byrne. He's competing with Ross Byrne for the fifth-choice spot.
As I said before, coaches will often go for the more reliable option even if performing worse (to a point) over the option that might perform better but might perform worse. That certainty of performance from week to week matters. You can’t build around a guy when you have no clue from one game to the next how he’ll perform. Carty himself knows this.
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.
Well Carberys form has been very consistent for a good while now.
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.
Ah I know, but it gives me a chuckle. His latest being that he thinks he's "open-minded".
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?
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.
This past summer?
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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?
Takes one to know one.
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