Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Thornley is right that Japan will be a tough game. They were very good against Australia a couple weeks ago and they ran us close last timeout having beaten us well in Japan in the previous encounter. They'll also have earmarked this Ireland game as another big chance for a tier one scalp.

I think we're going to hammer Japan.

Likely team?

I reckon it will be as follows

15 Keenan

14 Earls

13 Ringrose

12 Aki

11 Zebo

10 Sexton

9 Murray

1 Porter

2 Kelleher

3 Furlong

4 Henderson

5 Ryan

6 Beirne

7 Van Der Flier

8 Conan

Bench

Herring, Healy, Kilcoyne, Coombes, O'Mahony, Gibson Park, Carbery, Larmour

Need some sort of second row cover for the bench. Would rather we didn't start swapping Beirne positionally if one of Henderson or Ryan had to be subbed off. Dillane is more experienced but Baird might be the most explosive Irish forward around. Dunno who I'd pick tbh.

And for the bench I'd have Doris ahead of Coombes as he's a better player. Would rather POM didn't take a bench spot either. Maybe Baloucoune in for Zebo or Earls too. We know what the latter can do for us already. Would like it if at least one of two younger backs got a shot this series.

In terms of handling I would say Doris is one of the best forwards around. Made a lot of errors in that US(?) game back in the summer which was odd for him as he had a number of standout performances where his handling was impeccable. Chalk that off as a blip. Started off the new season in fine form. He's also covered blindside to a high-level, dovetailing nicely with Conan at 8.

I think as things currently stand he's better than Coombes. But there's probably not much in it that it makes much of a difference currently. His good performances at the highest level currently set him apart however.

Bilstons 1-8 is probably our strongest at the moment. Pretty decent age profile and all, bar Kelleher, are seasoned internationals who've all performed well in recent years in the Ireland set up. The backs are a different matter. Really need to see some evidence of them working as a unit.

I'd imagine that if Carberry plays against Japan then Aki and Murray will start. A 9/10 of PGP/Casey and Carberry is just too lightweight. Aki at 12 would also offer additional protection to Carberry in that channel. If Sexton starts then you could see Frawley start at 12.

Think attack Dorris and Coombes are both close, both have great skills. Defense however Dorris is way better. Coombes misses a lot of tackles, in the big games last year he missed 5 v Leinster and 4 v Toulouse. He's also fallen off a good few this year as well 4 he missed v the stormers. He needs to improve here to get into team.

He had some uncharacteristic errors in the Japan game as well, iirc. (Two offload attempts 2 weeks running that... aren't great).

Personally think medium term, Doris and Coombes will be our 6/8 combination and it'll be Conan who misses out. Coombes brings a level of aggression and heavy carrying that we haven't had in the backrow in awhile that we could really do with. He combines that with good footwork, offloading and a threat over the ball.

The Japan game is actually the one I was thinking of. Couldn't remember who it was against originally.

Thankfully Doris is been rather precise in his offloading this time around. Looking very good this season. But the forwards aren't really a concern this season imo. We have a strong pack and decent replacements in most positions so we won't miss any one started of they're injured bar Furlong.

Really need to start seeing the fruits of whatever it is Catt is trying to implement in attack though. Forwards did their part last season in giving a good platform. Backs didn't deliver.

Deegan instead of Doris (except he's not in the squad, obviously). Doris, Beirne and Conan are probably all much of a muchness.

6 Coombes 7 Connors 8 Deegan I go with

I definitely think its a game which could go either way.

Scotland have selected nobody older than 31 and five players 21 or younger in their latest squad and have a pair of halfbacks at 28/29 who are both coming into the peak of their powers and were already ahead of our ageing pair in the impartial eyes of Gatland for the Lions.

They're actually building for the RWC and will have a nice age profile when they get there, we'll be old and unprepared by comparison. I still can't see it happening but if we're actually still playing a 38 year old Sexton for that game then I would absolutely favour Scotland. Even if we're not it'll probably wind up being another Carty/Madigan situation of an underprepared and inexperienced 10 getting exposed at the highest level.

Now is the time to prepare the successor to prevent this and it's so dispiriting to see Sexton's continued selection. We just all know how this is going to end come RWC time, we've seen it all before.