In fairness Earls might be a natural try scorer against the weaker teams but his record against the top teams is pretty poor. Joe loved him though because of his work rate and getting stuck into the dirty work
Is it a myth? When guys were talking about work-ons they needed to get a look in, it was those ancillary tasks they were generally referring to. Try scoring ability didn't seem to be the most important thing Joe looked for.
I think a run of games and Stockdale is back in. He's too good to leave out of the 23! His try scoring ability is nuts. He's scored tries against top nations too; Wales, England, NZ. He is just a great player when on form.
Larmour also has a shot! Great step, good tackler and very good Rucker. The high ball fielding though is atrocious! Without that problem, he starts!
Earls has bee great. Age is his enemy.
Balacoune is a great looking prospect. Seems to have all the tools. Will be worth a punt.
Hansen has been superb. I haven't seen too much of him. What happened to the 5 yr window for imports? He's only just arrived!
Lowe could improve. Is it worth the wait? He has great attributes, but, like Larmour there is a weakness!
Zebo has the skill and the ability. Will he put the effort in?
Conway on form is the best wing we have. Imo
The rest of the possibilities are way outside the squad right now. Shane Daly is possible, but I think he's better in midfield.
Not sure what's happened to Conway, he was our best winger leading into the world Cup imo. Be great to see him rediscover his spark because he'd be straight in. Seems to be lacking a bit of confidence or something lately though
Hansens mum was born here.
If Tommy O'Brien could ever stay fit I could see him shooting up the pecking order.
What are you waffling on about, Shane Daly got capped and has been poor in the last year, Lowry is now backup outhalf who can't get a start infront of Billy Burns!! Adam Byrne back 2 games and yet to be tested to see if he has sorted out his defence yet.
Mack Hansens mum is Irish and is the form winger in the country.
Hansen's mother is from Cork, I think. It's how he qualifies.
Problem with Lowe despite his poor performance he lost all confidence he had in his attacking and found out couldn't just bosh over everyone at international level. He ended up kicking nearly every ball he got and his final play nearly summed up his form where he passed the ball straight into touch. Think he would have shepard crooked himself at that stage.
I think he looks a little leaner and fitter this year, not sure if he will get a chance. If he regains his confidence and sorts out his defence he offers something none of the other wingers do. Remember his debut against Wales, that what we want to see.
I thought last season Dave Kearney was the form winger in Ireland. He didn't get a look in! Adam Byrne has been ruined with injury. He hasn't had a run of games to impress or improve! I think he's just not physical enough for top level international rugby.
There is some youngster on the horizon. The world cup will most likely be too soon for them. Ethan McElroy would be one, Wren another one who looks potentially good. Rankin needs a lot of work, but the ability is there. Calvin Nash has not had the career I thought he was going to have. Perhaps he can force his way into the provincial team and who knows?
You mean he's slow at international level when he plays for Ireland because Ireland never get the best out of their backline, when the Irish backs put on a green shirt they look as if they forget how to play rugby and play like their feet are in quick sand and have d!ck's for fingers....
Hugo Keenan; Robert Baloucoune, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Simon Zebo; Johnny Sexton (captain), Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rob Herring, Tadhg Furlong; Iain Henderson, James Ryan; Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Murray Kinsellas probable team.
Andy Farrell could be the ace up Ireland's sleeve when it comes to the All Blacks game. He has an impressive record coaching against NZ - defence coach for England's win in 2012, Ireland's wins in 2016 and 2018 and for the drawn Lions series in 2017.
Performances decline as players step up to international level? How odd
I’d be very surprised if Tadhg Beirne doesn’t start. He was our best forward during the 6 Nations.
Prepare to be surprised. That was 7 months ago and he's had an anonymous Lions and an indifferent return to his province. I don't see him featuring this week, at least.
If that selection is correct and Zebo is the only Munster player to start, it'll certainly show JvG is impressing nobody, least of all Farrell.
We’ll see, I suppose. Wouldn’t be the first time a pundit got it wrong. But Farrell clearly rates Doris very highly too.
Fwiw, I think he’s been good in the last 2 games, even if Munster themselves have been awful.
Lack of imagination there if that's the team. Would be better to try integrate 2 or 3 younger players with some more senior people beside them..
I'd like to see zebo earn his starting Jersey back. Although handy to have a left foot kicking option at the back.
Why not have a look at frawley 12. We known the blunt force aki can offer us. With his poor tackle technique the last thing he needs is quick nippy lads running at him. We don't need another red card.
Herring at hooker really? Would be a step backwards and doubtful given kelleher has been up for media duty this weekend.
I'm not even going to mention the scrumhalf. Murrays main reason given for starting him is no based on ability but is conor murrays lack of game time. Surely the best way to rectify that would be to start conor murray before Nz come to town the following week.
Well he plays nz about 4 times in the next 8 months..
Will be interesting to see his record next July
Few interesting selections to discuss in that. Herring over Porter, JGP over Murray, Ryan/Doris over Beirne (depending how you look at it), Zebo and Balacoune over Earls, etc.
Have Tracey or Thornley come out with anything?
I don’t think any of the journos have any insights tbh. It’s all just them making best guesses. The selection for this weekend will absolutely have to be done with a view to NZ. Who is going to be in that 23 and who can just slot straight in vs who needs game time first etc. This groups hasn’t been together in over 7 months so most, if not all, of next weeks 23 will be involved this weekend.
Where's the guy from last year who had the dip on Murray being injured for the French 6N game? Would love insight like that again (and the craic that followed)
To be clear, that is a "possible" team, not the "probable" team.
Ah grand, same thing really, presume he has contacts in camp that tell him what it's looking like. If it was his own choice team he would have said.
Haven't watched a huge amount of Ulster this season but presume Herring must be going well to be (possibly) ahead of Kelleher who I think has been terrific.
Would be genuinely surprised to see Zebo start, not due to a lack of ability or talent - just haven't rated him in a while and didn't think much of his moaning about Ireland selection on social media albeit I doubt that's much of a factor for Farrell.
Couple of other calls here or there, Coombes could possibly feel a bit hard done by.
Anonymous? Most pundits were of the opinion that he was unlucky to miss out. He was our best player last year. If he's missed out it's a poor selection.
Think Coombes is in a similar position to Lowe, great going forward but in the big matches misses a lot of tackles. Would be a risk playing him against NZ. Saying that he's plenty of time to work on it before the world cup as ball in hand he's quality.
I don’t see how you figure that, tbh. For starters, Coombes is 23, Lowe is 29; they’re at very different points in their international careers.
And Lowe has been given plenty of opportunities by Farrell, and was dropped. Again, a very different situation to Coombes.
I was pointing out they are currently in a similar position in that they both offer a huge amount going forward but are not strong defenders. Hence putting them in against the best attacking team in the world(NZ) is taking a huge risk.
Didn't think Coombes misses too many tackles (haven't looked at stats so maybe he does).
Not sure what else he can do to put his hand up - jackals, good hands, workrate and has a ridiculous try scoring record.
There's a lot of competition in the backrow granted
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